TNs: Impressions from a big tasting

[Otto Nieminen]

Adriano Ramos Pinto Duas Quintas 2004 was oaky and boringly modern.

Adriano Ramos Pinto Duas Quintas Reserva 2003 oddly enough was much nicer for me though I haven't been too fond of 2003s. The heat of the vintage was not evident, rather it just seemed fully ripe. It tasted like a Douro red should, without the modernity and oak of the previous. It seemed that this is a stylistic issue between the wine rather than just differences in level and vintage. Am I on the right tracks? Did they really make the DQ as an international style wine and the DQ res as "traditional"?

Quinta do Crasto Crasto Douro 2005 was a nice, personal, earthy, youthfully vibrant red. Nice.

Q do Crasto Douro Reserva 2004 still tastes international to me and I'm still not convinced by it.

Pintas Character 2005 is a nice, modern styled wine, not too oaky, berried and tannic. Nice enough though not really my style.

Q. do Vale D. Maria 2004 is meaty, earthy, personal with vibrant fruit but savoury in character. Lovely.

CV 2004 was like the above except more tannic, deeper – but stylistically the two are very similar. I think I slightly prefer the Vale D Maria for its extra bit of elegance, but I’d like to taste these two in a less hurried environment again. Lovely.

Q. do Passadouro 2005 was nicely vegetal, fresh yet fruity. Very Portuguese tasting. Nice.

Q. do Passadouro Reserva 2001 was inky and modern and international, a bit soupy, but it did have a nice vegetal note to it and some nice tannins. Not to my taste.

Q. do Portal Colheita 2003 is dark toned, savoury and earthy yet vibrantly fruity. It doesn’t suffer from the hot year – it is fresh.

Q. do Portal Reserva 2003 was jammier than the Colheita ’03 and IIRC sees more oak. Or at least the oak is more evident. I preferred the arguably simpler Colheita since the aromatics were more personal than international.

Q. do Portal Grande Reserva 2003 was dark toned and sweet yet savoury, a bit vegetal (always nice!). Tannic and juicy, it is again a nice 2003 which doesn’t show the excessive heat of the summer.

Q. do Portal Touriga Nacional 2003 is floral and earthy, very much like the all too few varietal Tourigas I’ve had, but with Portal’s (or the years?) darker tones. It is stylistically like the previous, but has a touch more complexity and personality. Nice.

-Otto-