Stylistic Difference Between Barbeito and D'Oliveiras?

[Barry Sunderland]

From my experience, I would characterize Barbeito as more elegant, less power, while characterizing D'Oliveiras as more power, less elegant. Thoughts?

[Eric Ifune]

I would agree with your assessment, the caveat being that D'Oliveira has wines still in wood for a long, long time. The immense cask time would add to the the richness and concentration. Also, different Canteiro conditions can lead to different rates of evaporation (the angels share) which lead to different levels of richness and concentration. I know that Barbeito has several lodges with different conditions. Topping up or not also affects the wine.

[Marco D.]

I agree with this generalization, especially with the younger wines that are vinified by them. It gets tougher to generalize about the older wines, where they may have changed hands several times over the decades.