Quinta do Perdigão, Jaen Dão, Portugal 2013 ()

Just 50 miles south, the remote Dão lies on a wild, granite plateau and produces a dazzling lineup of wines that provides witness and testimony to the transformative power of this ancient land. Though both regions share many of the same grape varieties, the Dão often strikes a stark stylistic contrast to those of the Douro. Here, a near-perfect configuration of terrain, soil, and climate grants its ability to produce superbly fresh and aromatic wines pronounced with an articulate Burgundian accent. This bottle-aged gem, made entirely from Jaen (which you know/love as Mencía in Spain’s Ribeira Sacra and Bierzo), provides such a dazzling and unique expression that, in a blind tasting, we pegged it for a hybrid of Puglia’s darkly accented Salice Salentino and the Jura’s snappy, fragrant Trousseau! The wine shows a deep ruby red, running brighter toward the rim. An ascending, complex bouquet features pointed notes of dried tea, ripe blackberries, dark chocolate, pine forest, green herbs, and charred tobacco. The palate is generous and medium-bodied, holding concentrated flavors of black cherry, creamy chocolate, ripe fig, star anise, and pipe smoke. A lively framework of silky dry tannins and crunchy acidity binds together a rustic yet restrained concoction of flavor with a brooding mineral character. With over seven years of integration, this remarkably vibrant wine stands poised to transport you to a land uniquely beautiful, wild, and free.