2015 Pintas

The 2015 Pintas is a field blend (30+ grapes) from old vines (85+ years) aged for 20 months in 30% new French oak. It comes in at 14% alcohol. When last seen, this was not quite bottled. It's now in bottle and in the USA as well. It still seems pretty brilliant, one of the fine moments of this 2015 vintage. It is elegant in the mid-palate, perhaps more so than normal—credit the vintage for that. It shows its oak a bit too much just now, though, and the tannic power has completely subsumed the fruit since I last saw it. This may actually be showing more poorly than when I saw it just before bottling. It has closed down hard. That's just fine, because this was never intended to be a "drink me now" wine. It wasn't approachable then, and it isn't approachable now. It needs to be held for a few more years, at least. It may not be at peak then, but it will be in better balance. As I gave it more air, I did see some hints of that gorgeous fruit I originally adored, along with some earth and stones. It has a certain transparency to it, relatively speaking. This is a star, there is no question there. The only question is how big a star. I'm continuing to lean up, but that is all about potential. Be prepared to cellar it. There is no rush—it may have a 30-year lifespan, maybe more.