2007 Quinta do Vallado

[Brian C.]

I had this with a leg of lamb dish at a local Brazilian eatery tonight. I was a bit skeptical, especially after reading all the middling reviews on here about this wine. I found that the wine was reasonably integrated. Lamb went very well with this wine, I thought. It was a 13.5% ABV, and I did notice that taste somewhat. Fruit tended towards grape. Tannins made themselves known, but not obnoxiously so. Acid was not overbearing, either. The bottle went in the upper $30 range in the restaurant; I'd imagine it would be $15-20 retail, which is probably a fair price for it. I am not as down on the wine as other reviewers here have been, but maybe that's due to the added perspective of the higher end Douro reds that I have yet to try.

[Andy Velebil]

I wouldn't say down on it, but this got some pretty large scores and IMO while it's a good wine, it wasn't a wine worthy of being in the low 90's like some gave it. But at $20 it's a darn good value for a daily drinker.

[Brian C.]

Yes, at $20, a very solid value. It's funny, because I find this being said so often with Portuguese wines. From that $4 Espiral at TJ's and on up, the value is so often there. My buddy kept talking about how great it was, and he has had a lot of experience with high end wines.

Whether it's a 90 point or higher wine, I couldn't say, because I need to try more of the 90 point or higher wines. That's why I don't rate stuff at this point, because I need to have that perspective. I can just convey my experience as I did. I know that I was still enjoying the bottle on the last pour, and that doesn't always happen...