2014 Ponte das Canas

Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Syrah on clay and sandy soils. Hand-picked, foot-trodden in stone lagares, twice a day over 5-7 days. Aged 18 months in French and American oak. TA 6.5 g/l, pH 3.44. Unnecessarily heavy bottle. Deep cherry red, still vibrant in colour. More perfumed and sweeter-smelling than the Dom Rafael 2015 just tasted, with some oak sweetness as well as that of black cherry and blueberry fruit. Just a hint of the bergamot perfume associated with Touriga Nacional. On the palate, plush, generous and rounded in texture even though the tannins are still present and definite, becoming chewy as they build in the mouth, then an attractively dry tannic finish to balance the depth of fruit. Powerful but not heavy. Still a way to go and definitely needs food, ideally red meat. (JH)

The 2014 Tinto Ponte das Canas is a blend of 54% Syrah, 28% Touriga Nacional, 12% Touriga Franca and 6% Alicante Bouschet aged for 18 months in 50% new French oak. It comes in at 14.5% alcohol. This adds a layer of depth to the Dom Rafael, but in a tougher year it loses its little brother's vivid fruit flavor, seeming drier and a little washed out. For this bottling, the structure is just average and so is the concentration. This does seem to show some signs of having been affected by this vintage, but it drinks well in its context. Aug 2018, www.robertparker.com