2020 Quinta do Vale Meao Tinto

Full bottle an unnecessarily heavy 1,405 g. A rainy start to the season with heatwaves in June and July, leading to low yields.   60% Touriga Nacional, 35% Touriga Franca, 3% Tinta Barroca, 2% Tinta Roriz. After being crushed, the grapes were cooled down and trodden by foot during four hours in granite lagares and then transferred to small, refrigerated stainless-steel fermentation vats. In this vintage approximately 10% of the wines fermented with stems. Each grape variety and vineyard is vinified separately. The final blend is made at bottling. All the wine was matured in French Allier oak barriques (225 litres), 45% new and 55% second usage. Black core with deep crimson rim. Packed with blackberry and blueberry fruit, plenty of fruit sweetness as well as oak spice and what I think of as oak-derived sweetness. Really spicy, dark, slightly rocky/charry and embryonic but surprisingly expressive on the nose. Powerful, tannic, chewy yet balanced even in this youthful state. Mouth-filling fruit with just enough freshness. While the tannins are big, they are also smooth and polished. Needs time and food. (JH)