The 2009 “CHRYSEIA” is 70% Touriga Nacional and 30% Touriga Franca, aged for 13 months in new oak. The Symingtons' recent acquisition, the historic Quinta de Roriz estate, for the first time is in play here, making up nearly 40% of the blend (mainly with its Touriga Nacional, I’m told). The rest is from Perdiz and Vila Velha (the latter privately owned by a Symington and bordering Roriz). From a small, dry, hot vintage, this needed a little time to show better. It is beginning to strut its stuff and starting to fulfill the promise I thought it had, but it is developing slowly. The oak has started to integrate much better. While it retains its intensity of flavor and is hardly for the shy, it has begun to show a bit more class and integration, not just flamboyance and sex appeal. Its underlying power is asserting itself a little as well. With the time in the bottle, it seems more tightly knit, still unevolved, tooth-staining and mouth coating. Showing just hints of complexity now, it certainly will reward more time in the cellar and it has not really begun to reveal all that it has. It is a big, big Chryseia, but it showed well in Portugal this last summer and again when retasted in the USA very recently. At the moment, I would still give the nod to the more evolved and expressive 2007, but this certainly has the potential to be the best Chryseia ever. There were 2,850 cases made. Drink 2014-2024.
The ‘07-’09 Chryseia listings were part of a fine mini-vertical at the winery in Douro, with the ‘09s retasted in the USA as well. The styles of these three wines are very different, each expressing the vintage well. Qualitatively, there are differences but in some respects they may be roughly comparable, with pros and cons. It would be far more important to let your stylistic preferences make the choice for you.
Importer: Premium Port Wines, San Francisco, Ca.; tel: (415) 554-9920.
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