2015 Quinta do Vallado Touriga Nacional Red

The 2015 Touriga Nacional was aged for 16 months in French oak (38% new). It comes in at 14% alcohol. Francisco Spratley Ferreira, of the family that owns Vallado, said that this was one of his favorites ever. Tightly wound and rather tight in general, this is lighter in style on the mid- palate but the combination of aromatics, intensity and mid-palate finesse make it very appealing-if not irresistible. The fresh, bright conclusion makes this enlivening, too. It may be less tannic than the Tinta Roriz this issue, but it is far fresher and more graceful. It won't be the wine that necessarily hits you over the head. It will be the one you'll want to drink. This has star potential. I'm bullish for the moment. We'll see how it looks down the road with some time in bottle. Not yet bottled, I tasted the final blend in tank. As of this writing, there were 42,000 bottles produced. 2019 - 2040.

This is a stylish wine, perfumed with violets and bergamot and rich in black fruits and generous tannins. The wood aging has given this fine wine a smooth toasty structure as well as ripe fruitiness. It is still a young wine, and should be kept until 2020.