Quinta do Vallado Touriga Nacional Douro 2008
-
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
With a dark crimson color, this Touriga Nacional boasts great concentration and aromas of bergamot and wild fruits, with violet and spicy hints. The taste is sweet, round and mature, with silky tannins. Red fruits follow through from the nose into a long, concentrated, fresh finish.
Serve at room temperature with light meat dishes, such as pork, or flavorful, hard cheeses from cow or sheep's milk.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Spectator
Powerful and concentrated, boasting medium-grained tannins that support the dense plum and berry flavors, which feature plenty of ferrous, minerally notes. Mocha and spice linger on the long finish. Very well-crafted, finely balanced and pure-tasting. Needs time in the cellar. Best from 2012 through 2020. 2,188 cases made.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2008 TOURIGA NACIONAL was fermented in stainless steel and then aged in a combination of new and old French oak for 16 months. Noting the touch of cream and vanilla on opening, which integrated with some time and should integrate more with some cellaring, this shows exceptionally well, well focused, aromatic and beautifully structured, with subtle concentration—it seems elegant in the mid-palate, but it is very persistent, mouth gripping and never seems thin. It drank rather well the next day, too, after refrigeration overnight. It becomes earthier and shows more character with air. Those who follow the Douro will all rightly say that the best wines are generally the blends, but this is an awfully nice Touriga Nacional with impressive structure, powerful, yet balanced, a candidate for the best monovarietal wine I’ve had from Vallado. While not as deep as Vallado’s Reserva (reviewed this issue), it is fragrant and graceful. It should be approachable young, but a couple years in the cellar would help a lot. There were 26,256 bottles produced. Drink 2012-2024.
-
Wine Enthusiast
A perfumed, spicy and ripe wine, wood flavors balanced by great wafts of black fruit. It is elegant, with a significant wood element. It will develop over 3–4 years, bringing more of the fine berry fruits.
Other Vintages
2019-
Parker
Robert
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine -
Spirits
Wine & -
Parker
Robert - Decanter
-
Suckling
James
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine -
Spirits
Wine & -
Parker
Robert
-
Spirits
Wine & -
Spectator
Wine
In the heart of Portugal’s most famous wine region – the Douro Valley – near the historical center of Regua, the Quinta do Vallado vineyards, winery and guest house spread across both banks of the Corgo River at the very point where it meets the Douro. With winemaking references that date back to 1716, the Quinta belonged to the legendary Portuguese vintner D. Antonia Adelaide Ferreira, and has remained in the family through modern times.
The current owners, Joao Ferreria Alvares Ribeiro, Francisco Ferreira and Francisco Olazabal, are the sixth generation of this remarkable family, and the family’s mission to produce some of the best still wines of this fertile valley continues with the red blends and varietals that are exported worldwide. Of the 38-hectare Estate, 26 hectares are filled with vines 60 years and older. It is from these vines that Quinta do Vallado’s Red Reserve and Touriga Nacional wines are made, so it is no wonder that the wines are often found to be rated and reviewed among the best wines from the Douro.
Gaining great popularity for its bold but beautifully aromatic dry red wines, Touriga Nacional is the noblest variety in Port wine. Most likely originating from the Dão region, today it grows throughout the Douro Valley as well. Somm Secret—As many as 80 grape varieties can be used to make Port wine, each contributing something unique to the resulting blend. Touriga Nacional adds great color, tannins and aromatics.
Best known for intense, impressive and age-worthy fortified wines, Portugal relies almost exclusively on its many indigenous grape varieties. Bordering Spain to its north and east, and the Atlantic Ocean on its west and south coasts, this is a land where tradition reigns supreme, due to its relative geographical and, for much of the 20th century, political isolation. A long and narrow but small country, Portugal claims considerable diversity in climate and wine styles, with milder weather in the north and significantly more rainfall near the coast.
While Port (named after its city of Oporto on the Atlantic Coast at the end of the Douro Valley), made Portugal famous, Portugal is also an excellent source of dry red and white Portuguese wines of various styles.
The Douro Valley produces full-bodied and concentrated dry red Portuguese wines made from the same set of grape varieties used for Port, which include Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz (Spain’s Tempranillo), Touriga Franca, Tinta Barroca and Tinto Cão, among a long list of others in minor proportions.
Other dry Portuguese wines include the tart, slightly effervescent Vinho Verde white wine, made in the north, and the bright, elegant reds and whites of the Dão as well as the bold, and fruit-driven reds and whites of the southern, Alentejo.
The nation’s other important fortified wine, Madeira, is produced on the eponymous island off the North African coast.