Winemaker Notes
Concentrated aromas of fig, blackberry, tobacco, and subtle balsamic oak lead into a full-bodied, rich palate with ripe, rounded tannins, finishing elegant, mineral, and long with layered complexity; ideal with braised short ribs, grilled ribeye, lamb chops, mushroom risotto, or aged cheeses like Manchego or Comté.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Walnuts, cocoa, berries and orange rind on the nose of this medium-bodied red. Lively and wonderfully concentrated, with both bright acidity and tight-knit tannins accompanying the fruit. Excellent length. Drink or hold.
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Wine Spectator
Warm plum pie and fig compote flavors meet brighter notes of crushed black raspberry and pomegranate puree in this finely meshed red, joined by savory black olive and mountain herbs, plus an underpinning of minerally graphite and smoke. Long and creamy on the palate, with fine-grained tannins providing supple structure. An elegant and harmonious red, this is fragrant and well-spiced through the lasting finish. Drink now through 2040.
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Decanter
Lovely tension, freshness, vividness and personality - a wine that is as drinkable as it is appealingly unique and expressive of its place. Layers of wild forest fruit, mountain herbs and dried wildflowers are beautifully woven, framed by savoury tannins. There's a beautiful earthiness , with petrichor and tobacco in the background, but also playful fragrance and juicy fruit. A very complete, approachable wine that truly speaks of the Douro in a uncomplicate way.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Always among the most consistent Douro field blends, the 2022 Reserva Field Blend represents the old vines from the Douro region, the mixture of varieties that complement each other and the depth of the old roots. It has textbook aromas of rockrose, one of the ubiquitous plants in the Douro, and is resiny and with notes of hay, ripened berries and sweet spices. It has the dusty Douro character, the rusticity and elegance, with structure and concentration but with balance too. This keeps the poise in a very challenging year. It matured in French oak barrels, 28% of them new, for 16 months.
Rating: 93+
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.