Douro
2020
While Quinta do Vale Meão only began bottling under its own label in 1999, the estate has an incredible history. Vale Meão was one of the shrewd acquisitions of the celebrated Douro landowner Dona Antónia Adelaide Ferreira. In 1877 she purchased 270 hectares of land near Vila Nova de Foz Côa in the Upper Douro, and over the course of the next decade established a model winery, planting all the vineyards from scratch. The Quinta remained in the family and is owned today by Francisco Javier...
See the QUINTA DO VALE MEÃO detail page for more information on this brand
This is another fabulous vintage of this iconic wine, aged for 16 months in wood. It comes from the spectacular Olazabal family vineyard in the Douro Superior. It shows powerful structure and dark, dense black fruits. The tannins and the wine's concentration point to considerable aging potential.
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The 2020 Tinto is a blend of 35% Touriga Franca, 60% Touriga Nacional and dollops of Tinta Roriz and Tinta Barroca filling out the blend, all aged for 16 months in 40% new French oak. It comes in at 14.5% alcohol. This is more the typical Touriga Nacional-dominant blend, as opposed to last year. This combines concentration and freshness, but with the Touriga Nacional ascendant again, it is also fruitier, lacing the palate with blue fruits. It remains elegant and polished, as well as delicious. Xito Olazabal said he liked this better than the 2019, and I'd tend to agree, if only for the flavor profile. They are both pretty fine, to be sure. Reasonable minds might differ.
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