Located in north-central Portugal, the Dão region has a reputation for producing some of the country’s best red wines. Surrounded on three sides by high, granite mountains and sheltered from the Atlantic, Dão benefits from long warm summers and abundant winter rainfall. The wines of Grão Vasco exemplify the value Dão wines offer.
Produced from a blend of Jaen, Tinta Roriz, and Touriga Nacional, the 2006 Grão Vasco Dão is a wonderfully aromatic and flavorful red. It’s reminiscent, in some ways, of a good Rhone Valley red from France. Bright black cherry and ripe raspberry fruit scents are enhanced by hints of violet, earth, cinnamon and black pepper. On the palate, the wine is bright and lively, with the juicy ripe cherry fruit underscored by subtleties of vanilla, earth and spice. It would be easy to mistake the Grão Vasco for a fine Côtes du Rhône, as it possesses a degree of elegance and refinement not often found among its rustic regional peers. With prices continuing to rise on the most popular French and Italian imports, wines such as the 2006 Grão Vasco Dão offer value-conscious shoppers a genuine quality-oriented alternative