2012 Quinta do Crasto Reserva Vinhas Velhas Old Vines
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Tasting notes
70-year-old vines from walled terraces. A field blend of 20-30 different varieties. 16 months in oak, 85% French, 15% US. Deep glowing crimson. The aromas are so much more subtle and complex than on the varietal Tinta Roriz and Touriga Nacional. There's everything here: ripe dark plums, a light floral note, delicate spice and a hint of herby tobacco. Plus the dark graphite quality of the Douro origin. As well as blueberry sweetness. Here the texture and the freshness sing. There's an effortless depth of flavour with no weight or heaviness, the tannins very fine and the whole extremely persistent. Great elegance in such a young wine and impressive length. You could broach it now but there's so much more to come. (JH)
Critic scores
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
Mark Squires
More reviews and scores
The 2012 Reserva Old Vines, Crasto's familiar brand, is easily the best intersection of price and quality in Crasto's 2012s, although that is frequently true. It comes awfully close to being the best wine, too. It is a very fine performance in this restrained year. It was aged for 18 months in barriques (85% French). With more depth and persistence than any of the other bottlings Crasto submitted this issue, excepting only the Vinha da Ponte, it shows nice depth for a 2012, fine structure with persistence and tension on the finish and that crisp, invigorating air that Crasto's 2012s display. It is a creature of the vintage--but a very pretty creature it is. It is not as lush as some entrants in this brand or as deep, but few have had this lively feel to them. It is pretty delicious, too. It will be approachable young, but give it a couple of years if you can. It should also age well, given its acidity and real backbone. It is perhaps noteworthy that Crasto cut out three southern-facing vineyards from the blend this year, and also added in most of the fruit that would otherwise go to Maria Teresa, another of its specialty wines. There were 93,000 bottles produced.