TN: 2006 Quinta do Crasto Old Vine Reserva

[Andy Velebil]

A very dark brooding color, but to be expected on such a young Douro wine. Lots of blackberries, leather, and some oak on the nose, very full bodied and alluring. After a couple of hours in the decanter this has really taken on a full bodied profile with a moderate amount of tannins and some restrained fruit. The one thing I really like is there is lots of solid fruit to it, but it isn't cloying. It's a bit young right now and seems a tad disjointed at times, but I think that will flesh out and resolve with time. My only concern is the lack of acidity in it and how that will effect it over time. The finish is big to start, filling the throat and palate. Then it just kinda slowly fades away and leaves me wanting more. I'm a little mixed at this point. I really liked the many bottles we had back in October in Portugal but it now seems more restrained than those bottles. Not sure if it now needs more time or not, but I look forward to seeing how this ages. My friends gave it low 90's points as well. It really seems like a different wine than the many bottles we had in October.
92 points
01/19/08

[Roy Hersh]

Did you save a few ounces for the 2nd day?

[Andy Velebil]

Did you save a few ounces for the 2nd day?

Yeah right I know I should have, but with friends over there was no way it was going to last. I will with the next bottle as I am curious to see how it fleshes out, or not, over the course of a couple days. I should have added this bottle had just arrived in the mail that afternoon, so that could have had something to do with it also.

[Roy Hersh]

Darn those people mailing bottles like that. You'll get to try another one this weekend for sure. More, if you want upon arriving home.