Quinta da Pellada PAPE 2022 - Elegância granítica e frescura que o tempo transforma em excelência

Quinta da Pellada PAPE 2022 is a prestigious red from the Dão D.O.C., made by iconic grower Álvaro de Castro. This blend harmoniously combines 50% Touriga Nacional (from the Passarela-Outeiro vineyard) and 50% of a traditional old-vine field blend (from the Pellada vineyard), with vines aged between 20 and 60 years. It's recognised for its excellent bottle-ageing capacity, keeping striking freshness and the elegance typical of the region's granite terroir.

The Wine Advocate
RP 94

Reviewed by: Luis Gutiérrez

The 2022 Pape has a very classic profile, ripe without excess and quite aromatic, with notes of violets, ripe red fruit and aromatic herbs. It's a blend of 50% Touriga Nacional and 50% Baga.

The “Pa” part of the name refers to a vineyard that previously belonged to Passarela but has belonged to Quinta da Pellada since 2022, and is the source of the Touriga Nacional. The “pe” stands for Pellada, where the Baga was selected.

The wine has 13.2% alcohol and shows a medium- to full-bodied palate with abundant, fine, grainy tannins, finishing dry and persistent.

This 2022 is a little more austere and slightly more rustic than usual for this blend, but manages to keep its elegance, balance and harmony. It aged through three winters, 30 months in total, in used 400-litre French oak barrels, and was bottled in July 2025.

Quinta da Pellada remains one of the best, if not the best, producers in the region and one of the pioneers of quality wine in the Dão. Led by the charismatic Álvaro Castro and his daughter Maria, the house works with indigenous yeasts and ages in stainless steel or used wooden barrels, avoiding excessive oak aromas and flavours so as to fully express the grapes and the granite terroirs of its vineyards.

Published: 22 January 2026