It is also known as Cachorrinho (meaning “puppy”) in the Dão region, but its most famous homonyms are Esgana-Cão in Bucelas and Sercial in Madeira Island. It is a very old wine variety, already referenced in 1711 by Vicencio Alarte that predominates in the centre and north of Portugal and in the coastline as well. Uva-Cão owes its name to the high acidity levels of its grapes, which even dogs don’t eat.
However, it’s this characteristic that values it enologically, giving rise to austere wines that age in a surprising way, such as the famous white wine of Casa Abreu Madeira in Canas de Senhorim. As it matures belatedly, it needs to be well exposed to the sun and cultivated on soils with little humidity, frequent in old vineyards, as those of Nelas, Carregal do Sal and Tondela. With climate change this is a wine caste to take more and more into consideration.
The consumption of Dão's wine in the manor houses of the region.
