DAC Red Blend 2019

Alvaro Castro and his daughter, Maria, create a playful range of wines from their vineyards at the base of the Serra da Estrela. Yet their humble DAC (short for Dão Alvaro Castro) is consistently among the best, and among the best red wine buys in Portugal. Their 2019 is a blend of touriga nacional and tinta roriz (both 30 percent) with jaen and alfrocheiro. It has the taste of wild blueberries, all skin and little fruit, then the finish races with scents of cracked green peppercorn, black currants and thyme. An elegant and resoundingly cool mountain red, this has a seductive texture on the finish … the spiciness seeming to last for minutes. What Dão should be. Score – 94. (Joshua Greene, wineandspiritsmagazine.com, March 2024)