Winemaker Notes
Of exceptional freshness, Quinta Vale D. Maria Vinha da Francisca 2019 stands out for its elegance. With a great depth of color, this wine seduces by the concentration of aromas of ripe red fruits, black cherry, plum and raspberry. Elegance and freshness announce a long and creamy finish.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Vinha da Francisca (Quinta Vale D. Maria) is a field blend of Sousão, Touriga Nacional and others, heavy on Sousão, all aged for 18 months in 50% new French oak. It comes in at 14.6% alcohol. I've always considered this one of the most elegant upper-level wines in the stable (in stark contrast to the Vinha do Rio), with particular attention to mid-palate finesse. Things have been a little different of late. In this big vintage, you get something with less mid-palate finesse but more richness. It is chock-full of the big and bold Douro fruit a lot of folks like and expect. For all of that, it manages to keep its balance, and rather easily. The flavor profile is nuanced and bit spicy with a touch more of red fruits. It tastes great, but it is not ponderous. This seems well positioned to age and develop. The tannins are ripe enough to make it possible to drink today, although that is the not the best idea just now. Give it at least another year. It will be interesting to see how this evolves.
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Wine Enthusiast
This wine comes from a single parcel in the D. Maria vineyard. The wine is ripe, smoothly textured with deceptively tender tannins and excellent juicy black fruits. There are touches of black chocolate and spice that will soften as the wine matures further. Drink from 2026.
Cellar Selection
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.