Quinta do Vallado Touriga Nacional, Douro, Portugal

瓦拉多國產(chǎn)多瑞加紅葡萄酒

點(diǎn)擊次數(shù)：10032

The floral, expressive, exuberant and perfumed 2021 Touriga Nacional expresses the floral quality of the grape and is a classical bottling coming from a property they rented in Pocinho (close to Vale Me?o) planted with 30-year-old vines. They used around 25% new barrels, and the rest were used. It has fruit and concentration, lots of varietal character, keeping freshness and balance, with fine tannins. This is a wine that is very easy to like and understand. They produce around 36,120 bottles of it and some larger formats. It was bottled in July 2023.

The 2020 Touriga Nacional was aged for 16 months in 25% new French barriques and comes in at 14.3% alcohol. In a warm year, Vallado again manages to deliver an elegant Touriga with some finesse and freshness. It always has that fruit-forward Douro style, though, tasting great and expressing the grape well. This year, the winemaker said, it was picked a little earlier and had a stricter selection. He liked the vintage in Douro Superior, where most of this fruit comes from. That doesn't make this an attention-getter, but it makes a wine that everyone will want to drink. It has the freshness to age well. This understated Touriga will be a pleasure to drink.

The 2019 Touriga Nacional was aged for 16 months in 50% new French barriques and comes in at 13.5% alcohol. Fragrant, flavorful and graceful, this lovely Touriga has an understated feel, but as it sits in the glass and on your tongue, it becomes more persistent while it pulls in the wood. This may not be the most dramatic Touriga that Vallado has made, but it is a carefully crafted wine that has the potential to improve in the cellar. It is vaguely approachable now because the tannins are not too astringent, but you'd be wise to give it a couple of years more in the cellar.

The 2018 Touriga Nacional was aged for 16 months in 50% new French barriques and comes in at 13.9% alcohol. Mildly aromatic, very graceful and precise, this balanced Touriga seems caressing and sensual. The expressive fruit is not fully developed by any means, but this is surprisingly easy to drink right now, once past the initial tannic pop. The tannins, in fact, are quite ripe. Not quite as concentrated as the previous vintage, this is nonetheless pretty fine on its own terms. It should age well too, but let's be at least a little conservative. This still has room to grow and improve in the cellar if you can hold it a few years.

The 2017 Touriga Nacional, bottled only about a week before this tasting, was aged for 16 months in 30% new French barriques and comes in at 14.5% alcohol. Big, big fruit starts this off—a hallmark of Vallado's 2017s. Ripe, succulent and expressive, a hint of beef and blue fruits on the palate mingle on the finish after an aromatic start. You expect the aromatics, but the intensity of flavor is a bonus, granting that this is very young and exuberant. Underneath, this shows off some structure too, although the tannins are very ripe. The mid-palate has admirable finesse. This will be a pleasure to drink, not just admire. It could use a couple of years in the cellar, but it is approachable if it does not close down. Winemaker Xito Olazabal said it should hold more than 20 years. It might well. There were 42,300 bottles produced, plus 600 magnums.