Suzanne Chowla's Page

Hello Suzanne,

Nice to ear from you, thanks very much.
No, I don’t have yet a distributor in USA, that’s what I’m looking for.
Regarding the evolution of Dão wines, believe that they really age as better as the greats wines in the world, but to support wath I am saying, just look up what Paul White says about:
«While visiting Dao’s Centro de Estudo Vintivinicolas (CEV), I had the pleasure of methodically tasting my way through many traditional red and white blends back to 1958. Excepting the oldest 1959 white, every wine was in superb shape-- complete, complex, compellingly mature, and yet still vibrant. Each testified to an unbroken tradition that understood how to assemble grapes to stand the test of time. My first thought was if those wines were that good back then, what about today, given better hygiene and more knowledge? But I also wondered whether going ‘modern’ was necessarily progress. »

I don’t have such old wines, but still have a large hundreds of a 97 (60% Jaen and 40% Touriga Nacional), and I obviously can send one bottle to you agree.

I will again refer Paul White:

Jaen Another interloper, Jaen (pronounced Shy-an or Hay-en), is none other than northwest Spain’s Mencia grape which grows along the pilgrim’s trail to Santiago de Campostela. In hotter parts of Dao, Jaen is the first to ripen and lower in acidity. Traditionally it provided alcohol and enhanced floral aromas, while softening tarter grapes in blends. CEV’s Jorge Brites explains that “Jaen ripens too fast in southern Dao, so no color or structure, it was not respected primarily because it had been put in the wrong places and not treated as a prime grape.”

In Northern Dao’s cooler conditions, Jaen harvests two weeks later, producing darker color, firmer tannins and more pronounced florals. It works as a standalone there. Joao Tavares de Pina of Terras de Tavares de Pina wants his Jaen to “have concentration without density” believing it needs ‘freshness, not high acidity.” The extended ripening time around Penalva delivers ripe tannins without losing delicate aromas, all at low alcohol levels. His young Jaen was highly floral, full of violet, cinnamon, black cherry and plum fruits with fleshy textures, bright acidity and finely powered tannins. I tasted other compelling Jaen at Lagar de Darei, and Quinta de Lemos, a smart rose at Quinta das Marias, and an intriguingly complex, velvety 1997 at Quinta das Maias. >>


All the best

Portugal has many autochthones grape varieties, red and whites.
White varieties are very interesting, with very different characters, but SYRIA also cold Códega do Larinho is fantastic, with citrons aromas of tangerine and orange.
Portugal Dão region has the most gastronomic wines: fresh, intense, elegant with very nice acidity, made with autochthonous grapes from very particularly varieties.
Just try.
I am a producer in Portuguese Dão region, and I suggest you to taste an old Dão.

Just see what Paul White Thinks about as:

“So far, Portugal has managed to remain true to its traditions, while at the same time offering up a huge range of distinctive grape varieties and unusual wine styles precisely when many of us are tiring of endless New World makeovers of French varietals.

Dao has a lot going for it in that respect: first rate grape varieties firmly rooted in granite-based ‘terroir’ that sparkles back like diamonds, all this shaped by a growing season that’s relatively gentler and longer than other Portuguese regions. Although relatively unknown and sometimes tricky to pronounce, Dao’s red wines offer consumers genuinely new and exciting tasting experiences.”

All the best