Alvaro Castro Dao DAC Tinto 2022 750ml

Touriga Nacional, Jaen, Tinta Roriz, Alfrocheiro | Dão / Portugal
Vintage: 2022  |  Size: 750ml  |  Organic · Biodynamic Principles · Non-Interventionist

Álvaro Castro is one of Portugal’s most iconic winemakers — a Lisbon-born civil engineer who inherited two small quintas in Dão in 1980 and became one of the earliest estate producers in the region. Today, alongside his daughter Maria (a biotechnologist turned winemaker with experience in Bordeaux and with Dirk Niepoort), the Castros farm 44 hectares of indigenous varieties at Quinta da Pellada and Quinta da Saes, working with over 40 native grapes in the field blend tradition. Their vineyards sit above 1,700 feet in the foothills of the Serra da Estrela, on granitic soils swept by cool Atlantic breezes — conditions that produce wines of bright acidity, ethereal aromatics, and compelling complexity. As Álvaro has said: “If God were to design a wine-growing region, what he would come up with would look a lot like the Dão.”

The DAC Tinto is the Quinta da Saes “calling card” to the region: a field blend of Touriga Nacional, Jaen, Tinta Roriz, and Alfrocheiro, fermented spontaneously with indigenous yeasts and aged in oak with minimal intervention. Dark ruby in color, it offers aromas of crushed herbs and black pepper, with a silky smooth palate of concentrated smoky black fruit, earthy depth, and a long, elegant finish. Biodynamically farmed, dry-farmed, hand-worked — and priced to drink every night.

“.An iconic producer in his region… Castro makes age-worthy wines of great freshness and elegance
— Robert Parker, Wine Advocate

Pairs with: Roast suckling pig, grilled lamb, bacalhau, aged sheep’s milk cheese, or mushroom dishes.