It is located on Rua Aristides Sousa Mendes, city of Viseu, in central Portugal
Its origins date back to the 12th century, the Solar do Vinho do Dão or former Episcopal Palace was the permanent residence of the bishops of Viseu until the beginning of the 20th century.
The Solar was a house with countless stories, a place of unique nature and the starting point of one of the most sensitive routes in Viseu, the Dão Wine Route.
The building was restored in accordance with the exterior architecture and the decoration is modern and bold and next to the building there is a chapel where there are no regular masses but it also functions as a guest room for this space.
The Dão Regional Wine Commission is an interprofessional regional association responsible for controlling the origin, guaranteeing authenticity and promoting wine products entitled to the Dão and Lafões Designation of Origin and the Terras do Dão Geographical Indication.
The Dão Demarcated Region, established in 1908, deserves to be visited carefully first, because the vineyards are hidden by pine trees, brooms, and brambles through stone walls.
The visitor has to set out to discover: step onto the land and breathe the magic of a winery and the journey follows mountains and villages, along mountain paths or along the streets of historic towns, along narrow mountain paths or along river banks.
The visitor travels through cities and villages, towns and places, nameless deserts or hillforts of ancient nobility and has to walk through the lands of Penalva, Tábua, Santa Comba, the corners of Aguiar da Beira, Fornos de Algodres, Gouveia, Sátão, Seia, Carregal do Sal, Arganil, Mangualde, Nelas, Oliveira do Hospital, Mortágua and Tondela.
Visitors taste the wine in farms or cellars behind austere facades between coats of arms and stonework and no two farms are the same and each one is a defined universe.
The vineyards are located in low-fertility land, predominantly granite with several schist outcrops that appear to the south and west of the Region and although it is located at altitudes of around 800 meters, it is between 400-500 that it grows in quantity.
The rugged terrain surrounded by a group of large mountains that protect it from external influences (to the west is the Serra do Caramulo, to the south the lush Buçaco, to the north the Serra da Nave and to the east the imposing Estrela), constitute an important barrier to the humid masses of the coast or the harsh continental winds.
The minifundio and the lush vegetation with green of all shades alternating with rock contribute to the almost anonymity of the vineyard in the landscape.
The vines are planted on around 16,000 hectares in a geographical area of 388,000 hectares where the people of Dão take advantage of the excellent climatic conditions to explore their ancestral agricultural ability.
The region's hydrographic network is characterized by a rigid layout indicating a clear adjustment to the relief structure through which the region's three main rivers flow: The Dão, the Mondego and the Alva and whose courses present great parallelism as they run through the entire granite massif.
The climate is cold and rainy in winter and very hot and dry in summer, with microclimatic variations of great importance for the quality of the wines and unique conditions for the production of wines with their own well-defined characteristics.
The Solar was a house with countless stories, a place of unique nature and the starting point of one of the most sensitive routes in Viseu, the Dão Wine Route.
The building was restored in accordance with the exterior architecture and the decoration is modern and bold and next to the building there is a chapel where there are no regular masses but it also functions as a guest room for this space.
The Dão Regional Wine Commission is an interprofessional regional association responsible for controlling the origin, guaranteeing authenticity and promoting wine products entitled to the Dão and Lafões Designation of Origin and the Terras do Dão Geographical Indication.
The Dão Demarcated Region, established in 1908, deserves to be visited carefully first, because the vineyards are hidden by pine trees, brooms, and brambles through stone walls.
The visitor has to set out to discover: step onto the land and breathe the magic of a winery and the journey follows mountains and villages, along mountain paths or along the streets of historic towns, along narrow mountain paths or along river banks.
The visitor travels through cities and villages, towns and places, nameless deserts or hillforts of ancient nobility and has to walk through the lands of Penalva, Tábua, Santa Comba, the corners of Aguiar da Beira, Fornos de Algodres, Gouveia, Sátão, Seia, Carregal do Sal, Arganil, Mangualde, Nelas, Oliveira do Hospital, Mortágua and Tondela.
Visitors taste the wine in farms or cellars behind austere facades between coats of arms and stonework and no two farms are the same and each one is a defined universe.
The vineyards are located in low-fertility land, predominantly granite with several schist outcrops that appear to the south and west of the Region and although it is located at altitudes of around 800 meters, it is between 400-500 that it grows in quantity.
The rugged terrain surrounded by a group of large mountains that protect it from external influences (to the west is the Serra do Caramulo, to the south the lush Buçaco, to the north the Serra da Nave and to the east the imposing Estrela), constitute an important barrier to the humid masses of the coast or the harsh continental winds.
The minifundio and the lush vegetation with green of all shades alternating with rock contribute to the almost anonymity of the vineyard in the landscape.
The vines are planted on around 16,000 hectares in a geographical area of 388,000 hectares where the people of Dão take advantage of the excellent climatic conditions to explore their ancestral agricultural ability.
The region's hydrographic network is characterized by a rigid layout indicating a clear adjustment to the relief structure through which the region's three main rivers flow: The Dão, the Mondego and the Alva and whose courses present great parallelism as they run through the entire granite massif.
The climate is cold and rainy in winter and very hot and dry in summer, with microclimatic variations of great importance for the quality of the wines and unique conditions for the production of wines with their own well-defined characteristics.
