Winemaker Notes
This blend is dark red. The nose is concentrated, with intense mature red fruit aromas, hints of violet, and “esteva” (a local Portuguese resinous bush). The palate shows good structure, with mature, round
tannins, leading to a long, persistent finish.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Touriga Nacional, only bottled only about a week before this tasting, was aged for 16 months in 50% new French barriques and comes in at 14% alcohol. This is sourced from a mixture of Vallado's own estate vines and a vineyard in Douro Superior. Whew. In its youth, the aromatics here are powerful, followed by a mid-palate that show finesse and silky texture. The tannins are moderately ripe but still show some pop and power. This won't be notable for its depth or intensity, but its balance, finesse and aromatics are impressive. It is gloriously fresh as well. This should age well, but let's start here and see where we go in time. It's a perfect food wine.
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Wine Spectator
A very appealing, full-bodied red, with aromatic violet accents surrounding the ripe raspberry and black cherry flavors, interwoven with baking spice and licorice details. Plush tannins envelop the mineral, mountain herb and tea notes on the long finish. Drink now through 2028.
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.
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.