Santa Vitória: wine, olive oil and over a million bottles a year in the heart of the Alentejo

The Rota dos Vinhos do Dão is participating in FINE #WineTourism Marketplace 2026, taking place in Valladolid on 3 and 4 March. Founded in 1995 and inaugurated in 1998, the route today brings together 50 producers spread across the 16 municipalities of the Dão Demarcated Region in north-central Portugal. Its mission has not changed since the beginning: to establish wine tourism as a driver of innovation for Dão wines and to unlock the tourism potential of a region with centuries of winemaking history behind it.

A region protected by mountains and defined by granite

The Dão occupies singular territory. The ranges of Serra da Estrela, Caramulo, Nave and Buçaco surround and shelter it, creating a temperate microclimate that favours quality viticulture. Granite soils give the wines a structure and freshness that are easy to recognise. The vines grow hidden among pine trees, broom and stone walls. The landscape is not a backdrop. It is part of the wine.

The region has had its own denomination since 1908, but viticulture here is far older. Dão wines were being exported to France and Brazil in the 19th century. Touriga Nacional, Encruzado, Jaen, Tinta Roriz and Alfrocheiro Preto are the varieties that best express this territory. Each brings something different. Together, they build a wine identity that cannot be confused with any other.

Five routes, fifty producers

The Rota dos Vinhos do Dão organises its offer across five certified itineraries covering the full extent of the denomination. Route 1 covers the Terras de Viseu, Silgueiros and Senhorim. Route 2 takes in the Terras de Azurara and Castendo. Route 3 runs through the Terras de Besteiros. Route 4 follows the Terras de Alva. Route 5 reaches the Terras de Serra da Estrela. Each has its own character. All combine wineries, manor houses, historic villages and clear-water rivers.

The 50 members of the route range from long-established cooperatives to family quintas and more contemporary projects. All meet standards of safety, comfort, accessibility and hospitality. This is not an improvised network. It has been running for nearly thirty years and has managed to evolve without losing its thread.

The Welcome Centre in Viseu as the starting point

The Solar do Vinho do Dão, in the historic centre of Viseu, houses the route’s Welcome Centre. It is the ideal place to begin. Wines from different producers can be tasted there, bottles can be purchased at cellar prices, and visits to the wineries can be planned with up-to-date information. For anyone arriving in the Dão without a fixed itinerary, it is the best first step.

From there, the options multiply. Visits to historic wineries, walks through centuries-old vineyards, tastings paired with vitela à Dão Lafões or oven-roasted kid. The food offer sits comfortably alongside the wine. In the Dão, the table and the cellar have always gone together.

Thirty years of evolution and a consolidated project

The route has been renewed several times since its creation. The 2015 revision was the most thorough: new visual identity, a structuring and management study, and the inauguration of the Welcome Centre. The result is a more coherent and better communicated offer. Not everyone who started is still here. But those who remain are here by conviction.

The participation of the Rota dos Vinhos do Dão in FINE 2026 is an opportunity for operators and industry professionals to discover a region that produces wines of genuine quality and offers wine tourism experiences with real depth. The Dão does not make noise. It simply convinces.