2008 Crasto Superior Douro -- by Quinta do Crasto

[Andy Velebil]

This is a new product from Quinta do Crasto that will fill the gap between their basic "Crasto" and the Reserva Old Vine wines. While the 2007 vintage was actually the first produced, it was produced in far smaller quantities and not generally marketed. Lots of fresh dark berries and enticing perfume dominate the nose. Plenty of spices show early with waves of fresh black fruit coming right on it's heels. Considering the fruit comes from Crasto's Quinta da Cabreira property in the hot eastern portion of the Douro Superior (hence the name of this wine), there is plenty of acidity keeping it fresh and pure with no overripe fruit. 12 months in 225 liter French oak barrels allows a little youthful oak to peak out on the finish but plays second fiddle to the other aspects of this wine. I actually was very glad to see the oak showed far more restraint on this vintage, as compared to the 2007, as it now gives some subtle complexity without being the dominate feature. The moderate tannins on the long finish should give this wine medium-term aging potential. Then again, this was a wine that showed very well now and was hard to stop drinking, so why wait.
91 Points

[Rune EG]

Very interesting reading Andy.
During the FTLOP Harvest Tour Oct-2010, we had a dinner at Quinta do Crasto, where they served us seven Douro red wines. One of them being the 2008 Crasto Superior. In general I like the Crasto reds a lot, and I am also buying them on a regular basis. During that dinner I gave the Superior only 83 pts, by far the lowest that evening.
Last month I met the Danish importer of Crasto Douro wines and ports, and he spoke highly about this new Superior, and mentioned especially "value for money".
So now I am positively surprised when reading your tasting note, and will try to buy some bottles to test again. If you find bottle variations, it would be interesting to hear from you on the Forum.

[Andy Velebil]

Wow, that's pretty low. Even in that snap shot tasting last year, which I forgot about, I gave it 89 points. Obviously spending an entire day tasting it and with a little more bottle development this is a very well done wine. Then again, maybe it suffered a bit since we were drinking some of their other top end Douro wines as well.

[Claus P]

I just tasted this wine the last two days at the importer here in Denmark, and I'm somewhere in between you two.
Probably 86-88.
I don't think it is the best qpr out there, though at the current sale price of 95 dkk it is pretty good (about 13 euro).

Claus

[Andy Velebil]

I don't think it is the best qpr out there, though at the current sale price of 95 dkk it is pretty good (about 13 euro).

Claus

I almost choked when I read this last part. At 13 euros this is a great QPR....actually a steal

[Claus P]

He-he

I suppose it is a very good price, but it is all relative, we have a lot of other small producers available here in Denmark.

I guess it helps that it doesn't have to be shipped across an ocean as well

Claus

[Andy Velebil]

He-he

I suppose it is a very good price, but it is all relative, we have a lot of other small producers available here in Denmark.

I guess it helps that it doesn't have to be shipped across an ocean as well

Claus

Heck, shipping is easy, it's the legal people here that cause all the drama and extra costs