| 17.0 / 20 |
Region: Porto
Country: Portugal
A blind buy at the last wine auction here in Lisbon, this was a good surprise and a great introduction to Quinta do Castelinho wines (I don't think I had tasted a wine from them before).
Showing a beautiful and youthful dark ruby color, the nose is impressive for its intensity and purity of ripe red fruit backed up by impressions of spices and molasses. If tasted blindly, I would never guess it was 14 years old.
To the taste, a full-bodied wine, powerful, multilayered, showing a lot of fruit. Yet, tannins are tamed enough so this intensity is already mixed with some of the finesse and complexity of an older vintage. Very persistent with notes of red ripe berries and spices - cloves and cinnamon.
I think this was on the perfect balance between the intensity and power of a younger vintage and the grace and complexity of older ones. Apparently, it received quite a few awards when it came out. From this taste, I think they were very well handed.
Right now, a cigar. Or a dark chocolate based dessert. It still needs to be a strong flavored dish to match this fruit intensity.
Tasted on 2011-03-19
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