8 editor-picked estates growing Cerceal in Dão.
Where to taste Cerceal in Dão: the estates that grow it, how the region expresses the grape, and how to book a visit.
Family estate at Abrunhosa do Mato with 35 hectares of vines, three quarters red. Began bottling varietal reds in 1996 and a barrel-fermented Encruzado in 1998.
Tasting: Cellar and vineyard visits Monday to Friday 10:00 to 17:30 by prior booking, with tastings of two to four whites and three to five reds, and meals in the tasting room for groups of 10 or more.
Signature wines: Quinta dos Roques Encruzado, Quinta dos Roques Touriga Nacional, Quinta dos Roques Garrafeira
Lusovini's Dão brand, first bottled from the 2000 harvest by João Paulo Gouveia, drawing on 75 hectares between Viseu, Mangualde, Nelas and Carregal do Sal.
Tasting: Wine tourism spaces at Nelas, Carregal do Sal, Oliveira de Barreiros and the Sé in Viseu, with vineyard walks, barrel-cellar visits, picnics and a harvest programme.
Signature wines: Pedra Cancela Selecção do Enólogo, Pedra Cancela Touriga Nacional
The Monteiro Albuquerque family has farmed here since the late nineteenth century; the fifth generation started bottling in 2006 and released the first wine, a 2010 red, in 2013.
Tasting: Monday to Friday 09:30 to 17:30; other days, weekends and public holidays by prior booking.
Signature wines: Menino Afonso, Avô António Reserva Encruzado, Avó Fernanda Branco
Cooperative of around 2,000 grower members at Loureiro de Silgueiros, founded in 1962 and crushing its first harvest in 1964.
Tasting: Monday to Friday 09:00 to 12:30 and 13:30 to 18:00, closed at weekends.
Cooperative formed in 1960 that took its first grapes in 1967 with 43 members. It now has about 950 and makes some six million litres a year, 80 per cent of it red.
Tasting: Visits and tastings at the cooperative by arrangement.
Organic and biodynamic estate at Mouraz, 25 hectares in scattered granite parcels between 200 and 400 metres. Ecocert-certified since 1996, working biodynamically since 2006.
Tasting: Visits to the vineyards and cellar at Mouraz by arrangement with the producer.
Ten hectares at 500 to 600 metres in the Serra da Estrela sub-region, producing since 2007 and bottling three vegan ranges alongside its Touriga Nacional and Encruzado.
Tasting: Monday to Friday 09:00 to 18:00.
A Tondela estate whose white comes from an interplanted old vineyard at Quinta do Laranjal, with Encruzado, Malvasia, Gouveio, Bical and Cerceal mixed in the rows rather than blocked out.
Why locals love it: A Tondela estate on the western rim that most visitors drive past on the way to the Nelas cluster, with an interplanted white vineyard worth the detour.
Tip: Ask to see the Laranjal plot rather than just taste from it; the interplanting is the whole argument for the wine.