TN: 2009 Alves de Sousa Gaivosa Douro red

[Rune EG]

Have had many of this wine of the 2009 vintage, and it is one my wife and I like a lot for meat dinners. It is steadily giving abt 92 pts in score. This time we wanted to try longer decanting time to see if that gave any effect. Decanted 6.5 hrs which is much longer than our usual 3.5-4 hrs for this wine. As we increased the decanting time by 60-70 % it was significant and it definitely gave effect as the wine jumped up two points from 92 to 94 pts.

Decanted 6.5 hrs. Deep, deep dark red colour. Wonderful balanced aroma of fruit and oak. Full body. Powerful and elegant the way I want it from Douro reds. The minerals were now much more subdued than with the previous decanting time. Nice mixture of fruit, oak and then more subdued minerals. Long aftertaste. Perfect for meat dinners. This time it was venison. 94 pts.

[Andy Velebil]

I'm a firm believer in longer decant times for many Douro wines. I've even had $25 bottles that the next day showed better.