2007 Maria Theresa

The 2007 Vinha Maria Teresa is part of this issue's vertical. This takes the style of the 2005, adds some lift, focus and better fruit, and delivers one of the most tightly wound and concentrated Maria Teresas, rather bigger than the 2007 Ponte in most senses. Yes, it has plenty of flavor intensity still, a trademark of this bottling. It is still tight around the edges, nowhere near peak. My original quibble was oak. It has done a respectable job of pulling that in and it should continue to do so. I have a replacement quibble, however, something that seems more obvious now as the oak recedes with age and then with aeration. It seems to show a bit of heat as it airs out over a few hours. I retasted it the next day. It was young, vibrant and hardly had budged an inch, but my overall impression was the same: in most respects the wine is quite brilliant, but not perfect. I'd like to continue exercising a little caution here. Sometimes it seems simply spectacular, one of the greatest Maria Teresas, but there is that little quibble in the background. It should continue improving over the next several years. It should be fine for at least a decade thereafter. It will be interesting to see where it goes. It still has some potential to prove me wrong.