Quinta do Perdigão, Jaen

In recent years, Portugal’s Douro Valley has put the rest of wine-producing Europe on notice, having stolen the spotlight with its staggering trove of affordable, high-quality wines outside of Port’s fortified realm. These sumptuous Bordeaux-style reds and exotically layered whites have won over aficionados and critics alike, but right now, our focus has been pulled into the Douro’s equally impressive neighboring valley. 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. Today’s bottle-aged gem, made entirely from Jaen (which you know/love a