Casa de Passarella - O Fugitivo - Curtimenta Branco - Dao

O Fugitivo is Casa da Passarella's skin-contact white from the Dão, built on Encruzado alongside traditional Portuguese white varieties. Curtimenta — extended maceration on skins — gives the wine its amber colour and grip, a style drawn from Dão's granite-soil, high-altitude vineyards rather than conventional white winemaking.

Expect texture and savoury depth over straightforward fruit: tannic structure, dried orchard fruit, a herbal, saline edge. Serve cool, at 10-12°C, to keep that structure taut. Pours well with shellfish, crab and lobster, or dishes built on green vegetables and fresh herbs, where the tannin and acidity have work to do.