Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Reserva Old Vines (the first since 2012, the 2013 and 2014 not being up to snuff) is a field blend from old vines, but roughly 45% each of Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca. It was aged for 18 months in a 70/30 mixture of new and used French oak and comes in at 14% alcohol. This takes the profile of the regular Tinto and adds welcome depth and power to go with the elegance and flavor. Its mid-palate finesse will serve it in good stead as it ages. It has a very refined and sophisticated feel. Too tight on the finish to drink just now, this is potentially impressive, but it really needs a couple of years in the cellar, at least, to come into better balance and become more expressive. Admittedly, this has some questions to answer in the cellar, but there is a good chance this could be the best Reserva Old Vines yet, mingling fine fruit with excellent balance and structure.
Rating: 93+ -
Wine Enthusiast
Concentrated tannins and rich black plum and currant flavors distinguish this serious, dense wine. It has structure and dry tannins resulting from both the old vine fruit and the barrel aging. This is a wine that deserves some good aging.
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Wine Spectator
A generous red, with a broad, inky texture, offering blackberry ganache, black cherry and olive flavors that are richly underscored by mocha, anise and baking spice notes. Details of graphite and cedar linger into the velvety finish. Drink now through 2023.
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Wine & Spirits
José Maria Soares Franco makes this wine in a partnership with João Portugal Ramos, working with mixed plantings, some 100 years old, at two vineyards, one in the center of the Douro, the other in the eastern reaches of the Douro Superior. It’s an ambitious, modern style with succulent red fruit that feels round and racy against the tough young tannins. Cellar it to let the fruit and tannins merge.
The name Duorum, which is Latin for "from two," captures the spirit of this renowned Portguese winery. The perfect union of unparalleled talent and unique terroir, Duorum is widely recognized as a gold standard for Portuguese wines. With over three generations of history between their families, internationally acclaimed oenologists João Portugal Ramos and José Soares Franco both graduated from El Instituto Superior de Agronomia (Higher Institute of Agronomy) in 1977.
In the thirty years that followed, João and José have left an indelible mark on the industry, both domestically and internationally. Seeking to combine their superior skills and passion for winemaking, João Portugal Ramos and José Maria Soares Franco founded Duorum in 2007. By combining the best qualities of the Douro & Alentejo, two of Portugal’s most celebrated wine regions, Duorum has consistently produced wines of exceptional style and quality.
With hundreds of red grape varieties to choose from, winemakers have the freedom to create a virtually endless assortment of blended red wines. In many European regions, strict laws are in place determining the set of varieties that may be used, but in the New World, experimentation is permitted and encouraged resulting in a wide variety of red wine styles. Blending can be utilized to enhance balance or create complexity, lending different layers of flavors and aromas. For example, a red wine blend variety that creates a fruity and full-bodied wine would do well combined with one that is naturally high in acidity and tannins. Sometimes small amounts of a particular variety are added to boost color or aromatics. Blending can take place before or after fermentation, with the latter, more popular option giving more control to the winemaker over the final qualities of the wine.
How to Serve Red Wine
A common piece of advice is to serve red wine at “room temperature,” but this suggestion is imprecise. After all, room temperature in January is likely to be quite different than in August, even considering the possible effect of central heating and air conditioning systems. The proper temperature to aim for is 55° F to 60° F for lighter-bodied reds and 60° F to 65° F for fuller-bodied wines.
How Long Does Red Wine Last?
Once opened and re-corked, a bottle stored in a cool, dark environment (like your fridge) will stay fresh and nicely drinkable for a day or two. There are products available that can extend that period by a couple of days. As for unopened bottles, optimal storage means keeping them on their sides in a moderately humid environment at about 57° F. Red wines stored in this manner will stay good – and possibly improve – for anywhere from one year to multiple decades. Assessing how long to hold on to a bottle is a complicated science. If you are planning long-term storage of your reds, seek the advice of a wine professional.
The home of Port—perhaps the most internationally acclaimed beverage—the Douro region of Portugal is one of the world’s oldest delimited wine regions, established in 1756. The vineyards of the Douro, set on the slopes surrounding the Douro River (known as the Duero in Spain), are incredibly steep, necessitating the use of terracing and thus, manual vineyard management as well as harvesting. The Douro's best sites, rare outcroppings of Cambrian schist, are reserved for vineyards that yield high quality Port.
While more than 100 indigenous varieties are approved for wine production in the Douro, there are five primary grapes that make up most Port and the region's excellent, though less known, red table wines. Touriga Nacional is the finest of these, prized for its deep color, tannins and floral aromatics. Tinta Roriz (Spain's Tempranillo) adds bright acidity and red fruit flavors. Touriga Franca shows great persistence of fruit and Tinta Barroca helps round out the blend with its supple texture. Tinta Cão, a fine but low-yielding variety, is now rarely planted but still highly valued for its ability to produce excellent, complex wines.
White wines, generally crisp, mineral-driven blends of Arinto, Viosinho, Gouveio, Malvasia Fina and an assortment of other rare but local varieties, are produced in small quantities but worth noting.
With hot summers and cool, wet winters, the Duoro has a maritime climate.