The Dão region has always been famous for its sunny with pleasurable garden houses, forests with large exotic trees and extensive farms. There was usually practiced a careful agriculture where the great cellars were evidence of the importance given to the wine production since the Middle Ages and particularly since the 18th century. However little was known about what was happening beyond the thick walls of the manor houses, given the discretion with which the owners always preserved their intimacy.
The very few studies on the theme suggest that both the tableware and the drinking rituals were sumptuous, especially on holidays or when welcoming important guests.
Before the 18th century the banquets led by rigid rules of etiquette followed the French manners where the many delicacies consumed were all placed on the table in different phases, called "cobertas". However, the wines and glasses were not placed on the table but served by cupbearers, usually dressed strictly and performing a ritual of their own whenever the guests wanted to drink. The pieces of that time are very rare and we can assume that the ones that predominated were those made of silver or tin, used to drink as well as to serve the wine. It was also common for the guests to use the same glass or mug and the wine should be consumed in one gulp so that no wine was left for the next guest.
From the end of the 18th century, the Russian manners were put into practice after being adopted by the royal banquets, where the delicacies were served one by one and the glasses were already on the table in front of each guest. Glass services often imported from Italy, France, or even Germany and England, were luxurious with five different glasses for each type of wine or liquor. The wines, not only from the region but also from other places, were carefully prepared before being served. The wines were filtered, refreshed, "chambreados" (from the French term "chambre", which consists in raising the temperature of the wine to the temperature of the room) and decanted with special wine decanters, many of them of rare beauty and true masterpieces.
Wine assumed a prominent role in the aristocratic “table” of the Region and the rituals around it are as good as those practiced in the 21st century.