? Location

Dão is a wine region in Portugal, located south east of Porto and southwest of the Douro Valley.

☁️ Climate

The climate is Mediterranean, the region is surrounded by highlands protecting it from cool winds from the Ocean, but also from warmer winds coming from the inlands. Surprisingly, the rainfall in Dão is quite high, but mainly falls in the winter ? Water stress can be an issue during ripening.

? Soils

Another cause for water stress is the soil. Common soil is weathered granite with a sandy texture. Not big in water retention.

? Grapes

The dominant variety is pinot noir (60-80%), followed by a bit of chardonnay and pinot gris. The main varieties for red wine are touriga nacional, tinta roriz, jaen and alfrocheiro.

For whites, the main grape variety is encruzado – which I always call the Portugese chardonnay as it is just as versatile as our char and the good ones can age pretty well.

? Something you didn’t know

90.3% of vineyards owners have an area of less than 0.5 hectares and only 0.02% have an area greater than 10 hectares. Th largest wine company of Portugal is Sogrape and is located in Dão, see Wine Anorak for a profile of the company.

Wine Map of Spain & Portugal

Learn all wine regions by heart and score 10/10 on your exam.

Go to Shop >

Dão portugal