The 2010 Reserva Duas Quintas is from Ervamoira and Bon Ares (the two quintas). It is a blend of 50% Touriga Nacional, 10% Barca Red and 40% Touriga Franca, all of which was 20% aged in wooden tonneau and the rest in a mixture of one and two year old oak. This is quite lovely and illustrates many of the points I’ve made about 2010s. Earthy and bright, a bit tinged with oak in its youth, it is tightly wound and a little compact, but it seems to show far better than its 2009 sibling at a similar point (which recently came in for an upgrade, however). Graceful and beautifully focused, it is a wine with velvety texture, a serious backbone and significant potential to add complexity, although it will never be overly fleshy. This is nowhere near ready to drink – give it some time to come around. It will be better around 2015-2016 or so. But I think it will hang well with recent DQ Reservas from more heralded vintages and age quite gracefully. It will be a wine you don’t initially obsess over, but while you’re drinking it with a nice meal you’ll eventually notice it and start thinking “this is pretty good!” Drink 2014-2024.
The focus for Ramos Pinto in Issue 204 was historical tastings. This lineup is the current set of releases.
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