2020 Quinta da Leda

This is a stunningly serious wine with extraordinary class and detail. I wrote ‘utterly gobsmacking’ in my notebook – not words I often use. There is phenomenal balance, a stunning mid-palate, and epic length here, and this makes 2020 Leda the finest value £50 red wine on earth, not least if you want to drink a bottle now or in 30 years!

Full bottle 1,495 g. Selected plots in the  170 ha of vines in Leda. Generally a similar blend. This year 43% Touriga Franca, 37% Touriga Nacional, 11% Tinto Cão, 5% Tinta Roriz, 4% Sousão, all co-fermented. The 2020 vintage in the Douro got off to an unsettled start with a rainy spring causing an increase in disease pressure in the vineyards and a reduction in yields. The summer was dry and very hot and featured the hottest July in the last 30 years. This accelerated the growing cycle and required careful canopy management to avoid grape sunburn. Some rainfall in mid August gave the vines the boost needed to undergo the final stages of ripening during the heat that continued in September. 2020 was one of the earliest harvests on record in the Douro and yields were down 30% compared with 2019. Harvested manually. After destemming, the grapes ferment in stainless-steel tanks. Matured in new (50%) and used (50%) French oak barrels for around 12 months, then blended and aged another 6 months in the same barrels. Light filtration prior to bottling. TA 6.3 g/l, pH 3.6. Very dark – black at the core to a dark purplish rim. The aroma is dark, rocky and charry but not overly oaky. Firm, chewy, structured and deliciously dry in texture. Lots of dark, dark fruit without any unwanted sweetness. A highly refined, polished Douro. Long and elegant and still in its youth. Long, cool aftertaste. (JH)