Taboadella Villae Dão Branco 2022

No one is more masterful than Taboadella with Dão’s racy indigenous white varietals, which is all in evidence in the captivating 2022 Taboadella Villae Dão Branco (40% Encruzado, 40% Bical, 20% Cerceal Branco). Bright and glistening in the glass, it offers a seductive olfactory of freshly cut green apple, citrus blossoms, white peach, and the sensuous scents of early spring. In the mouth, Taboadella’s 2022 Villae Branco entertains the senses with a delightful mélange of fruit and bright acidity that electrifies the mid palate. What makes Portuguese white varietals and Taboadella’s 2022 Villae Dão Branco unique is how they combine laser-like acidity and a honey texture through to a smashing finish. Classy, elegant, and bursting with energy, the 2022 Taboadella Villae Branco once again highlights the Amorim family’s achievement at Taboadella with indigenous grape varieties. For optimum enjoyment we suggest opening this delicious white wine a few minutes before consuming it with a moderate chill (40°-45° F). Anticipated maturity: 2024-2027. Enjoy!

Portugal’s seafaring tradition and centuries-long spice trade coupled with an enviable position between the ocean and the mountains has endowed Portugal with a rich and diverse diet to pair with the 2022 Taboadella Villae Branco. Portugal’s emblematic dish Bacalhau (salted cod) with chickpeas, either as a fried fritter or cooked with potatoes, makes a splendid companion to the 2022 Taboadella Villae Dão Branco as do a host of seafood dishes. Bronzino prepared with Mediterranean herbs, arugula, red pepper, and mango in the company of a fennel salad provides another fine accompaniment. Pan Seared Halibut with a beurre blanc sauce accompanied by crab meat risotto, zucchini, and fresh tomatoes also makes a splendid companion. Seafood Ravioli with lobster and shrimp in a lightly spiced tomato cream sauce earns two thumbs up, too. For those not beholden to the sea for sustenance, consider serving a juicy Veal Chop or hearty Wild Mushroom Risotto with Taboadella’s racy, mouth-filling 2022 Villae Branco. Charcuterie, ham, and a host of goat and cow’s milk cheeses provide delicious accompaniments, too. Bom Apetite!

“We believe that Dão is one of Portugal’s most emblematic and promising wine regions, home to great wines with a classic profile and enormous longevity, a unique territory that not only demonstrates the full potential of Touriga Nacional and Encruzado, but also of traditional Portuguese grape varieties. The region has a great history and certainly has a great future” – Luisa Amorim

Taboadella, nestled in the heart of the Dão between mountains of pine, chestnut, and cork oak, has been a place full of life and character for millennia. This ancient settlement alongside the Ribeira das Fontainhas dates to the first century when a Roman villa, winery, granary, and other structures occupied the area. Taboadella’s prominence re-emerged again in the 13th century when it came under the auspices of the Knights Templar. In 1504 it received a formal charter from Portugal’s King Manuel and subsequently became the domain of several knighted families until being acquired by its present owners, the Amorim family.

The Amorims have been involved in wine since 1870 when they began negotiating cork sales to Port producers in Vila Nova de Gaia. And, although they remain one of the world’s largest suppliers of cork, they have over the last three decades committed themselves to restoring and developing wineries and vineyards of historical significance in Portugal’s Alentejo, Dão, and Douro. In addition to Taboadella, the Amorims are the proprietors of the Aldea de Cima estate in the Alentejo and one of the most respected Port lodges, Quinta Nova de Nossa Senhora do Carmo in the Douro.

Today, Luisa Amorim oversees Taboadella and the family’s other quintas where wines and vineyards have ancestral roots and cultural importance. She has helped restore Taboadella to its original purpose as a winery, vineyard, and a place full of life and character in harmony with its surroundings. Only indigenous grape varietals such as Encruzado, Tinta Roriz (also known as Aragonez or Tempranillo), Jaen, and Touriga Nacional, among others, are cultivated at Taboadella, which enables the family to “recover from the past the essence of nature and project great wines into the future with a remarkable typicality [while] maintaining the ancestral character of the Dão.” We invite you to taste the exceptional wines of Taboadella.

Located in the north/central part of Portugal, Dão is surrounded on all sides by mountains, which shelter this important viticultural region from severe weather and provide the ideal conditions for the cultivation of Portugal’s excellent, though mostly unsung, indigenous grape varietals. The region’s high altitude vineyards grow on granite and schist soils up to nearly 3,500 feet. Dão’s high altitude makes for cool nights, slow ripening, and the propensity to produce highly aromatic wines of superior elegance and longevity.

The Dão produces both red and white wines. Dão’s signature white grape is Encruzado, a grape renowned for producing tasty white wines in a myriad of styles, which range from fresh, light, and supremely elegant white wines to crunchy, complex, barrel-aged versions. The region’s indigenous red grape varieties, most notably Tinta Roriz (aka Aragonez or Tempranillo), Jaen, Baga, Bastardo, Tinta Pinheira, Touriga Nacional, and Alfrocheiro, also figure prominently in the production of red Dão or Tinto.