2019 Pintas

Full bottle 1,512 g. 89-year-old vineyard with more than 40 varieties in the Vale de Mendiz (Pinhão Valley). Harvested 14 September. Destemmed and foot-trodden in stone lagares during all the fermentation process (10 days). Ageing and malolactic conversion in French oak barrels during 20 months. TA 6.2 g/l, pH 3.59. Darkest cherry red. Smells even more rocky, even more essence of Douro than the Pintas Character but there is a strong family likeness. The fruit smells richer, more concentrated but without unwanted sweetness of oak even if the oak adds notes of dark, almost bitter, chocolate. On the palate, deep, chewy, smooth, utterly mouth-filling without being heavy. Still manages to finish fresh even with all this gorgeous fruit. Really chewy tannins at the moment but not aggressive. Harmonious for a long and complex future. (JH)

The 2019 Pintas is a field blend (over 40 grapes, but the dominant grapes are Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz and Touriga Nacional) from old vines (around 90 years) aged for 20 months in 20% new French oak. It comes in at 14.5% alcohol. What can you say about Pintas in all its glory? Big and expressive fruit is the first thing you'll take note of. Yet the second thing changes the opinion on and character of this wine. It's not even close to a fruit bomb. Its structure controls it, making it fresh, precise and lively, never jammy and ponderous. Then, it shows off some serious power. The winery's style generally eschews astringency (except at times on the Port), but there's certainly a fair bit of power on that finish. This is built to age and develop. It's delicious but not one-dimensional. It isn't even close to showing everything it has just now. While not completely unapproachable, it will show a lot better in a few years. It may not hit peak for 10. There were 5,900 bottles produced, plus some other size formats.