Textura Pura Tinto, Dao, Portugal 2018

Marcelo Araujo started Textura with his family with the 2018 vintage. His passion for great wine, Portugal, and the terroir of Dão began years earlier. After moving his family from Brazil to Portugal, Marcelo set out on a new path, leaving a successful career in investment management behind. Like all that Marcelo pursues, he does it with full commitment and with both hands personally in each detail. Marcelo purposefully chose the Dão region because of its attractive combination of climate and geographic features and the ability for this place to be clearly shown in the wines. Nestled against Portugal’s tallest inland mountain region, the Serra da Estrela, the Dão is quickly becoming a magnet for some of Portugal’s best winemakers as the prime location for showcasing several of the country’s prominent, native varietals.

Marcelo made significant investments in understanding this land and building their winery (fit into the original location of a textile factory) to properly allow for organic farming and the vinification of their parcels separately. This experimental mindset allows this relatively new project to better understand their land and how to deliver it authentically to the bottle. Winemaking is directed by Mariana Salvador with Luis Seabra consulting.

Sourced from a single vineyard of 55-year-old in Vila Nova de Tazem, in the Serra da Estrela sub-region, elevated at 600 m of altitude, at poor granite soils, this red is a field blend of Dão Portuguese grape varieties - Jaen, Baga, Alfrocheiro, Tinto-Cão and Tinta Pinheira.

It is a very distinct wine with delicate aromas of red cherry, gooseberry, a touch of spicy and forest. On the palate, nice acidity, dry, very refined and pure tannins, great texture, with riches of fruit and herbs. Complexity with a long finish. Pair it with grilled octopus or flavorful lamb chops.