Text João Pedro de Carvalho

It is not possible to speak of the history of Dão wine, one of the oldest wine regions of Portugal, demarcated in 1908, and not mention the charismatic Caves São João and their mythical Porta dos Cavaleiros of the 60s and 70s.

Some of them are even part of the group of the best wines ever made in Portugal. The Caves São João were founded in 1920 by brothers José, Manuel and Albano Ferreira da Costa, but only in 1959 with the descendants of the founders, Alberto and Luis Costa, would there be brands to launch the Caves São João to superstardom, the Frei João (Bairrada) and the Porta dos Cavaleiros (Dão) whose Reserva sported a beautiful and innovative for the time, cork label.

Without having their own vineyards or even cellar in the Dão region, they were limited to buying wine in local cooperatives and in some estates for later stage and blending in its headquarters located in Bairrada. Here the great knowledge that the brothers Alberto and Luis Costa held of the region was decisive, a fact which helped them to acquire stock up in a continuous manner, some of the best wines of the region.

The mastery with which they dominated the art of the blend and taking into account the quality of the “raw materials” available, made it possible to create wines of high quality, with their very own imprint, allied with a markedly classic profile of the Dão region, wines that persist in their majority up to the present day.

With the evolution of times and the consequent evolution of the region, became DOC in 1990, at the end of the 1980s many who had previously provided the Caves São João with grapes embarked on their own production. This way the quality of the available wines to buy as you would expect, suffered a severe blow. In the stillness of the cellars reside today more than one million bottles that have pristinely resisted the passage of time and whose wines in most cases show an enviable health. It is a privilege and a rare opportunity for wine consumers to come into contact with all the glory and splendor of times that will not return.

Porta dos Cavaleiros Reserva Seleccionada 1983 (Dão)

An amazing wine that immediately brings us back to its region of origin, Dão. Needs time in the glass, complex and deep, with a lot of bush, cinnamon, herbs, juicy, clean and fresh black fruit (cherry, raspberry) accompanied by notes of violet, smoked, a little bit earthy and spicy. More robust than the 1985 with a more accentuated herbaceous presence, full of harmony in the mouth with very ripe fruit, cherry, pine and spice, all with great freshness, medium body in a silky passage by the palate, full of vitality, long and persistent finish.

Porta dos Cavaleiros Reserva Seleccionada 1985 (Dão)

A classic aroma from the region, almost in the form of a compendium, cooler and more defined than the 1983, although at the same level of quality, here with the power of a very lively red fruit (berry), dry tobacco, smoke, dry plum, pine forest, lots of finesse. Mouth full of lively and succulent fruit with a texture that won’t go down, satin in the palate, a real pleasure to drink with an amazing capacity to shine with good food, fantastic balance and an enviable freshness. World class wine? Why not.

Contacts
Caves de São João
São João da Azenha, Anadia, Ap-1
3781-901 – Avelãs de Caminho, Portugal
Phone: + 351 234 743 118
Email: geral@cavessaojoao.com
Site: http://www.cavessaojoao.com/