Winemaker Notes
Full-bodied and deeply concentrated, with a spicy and floral aroma, flavors of blackberry and dark chocolate. Ripe, round and balanced with a notable acidity, firm tannins and a long finish.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A few days after I tasted the bulk of their wines, I had a bottle of the impressive 2021 Quinta da Manoella Vinhas Velhas, which they forgot to bring to the tasting. It was produced with the oldest vines on the property, planted some 120 years ago. The close to 30 different varieties were picked together on September 28th and vinified, partially destemmed, in stone lagares for 10 days. Aging was in French oak barrels and lasted for 22 months. The barrels were not new, but they marked the wine with intense aromas of sweet spices, vanilla and cinnamon and hints of toast and smoke, giving it a balsamic personality. It also has notes of ripe wild berries and herbs and a sense of ripeness but without excess. It has 14% alcohol and mellow acidity. It reminded me of some very good young wines from Ribera del Duero, with power, concentration and generous oak but also balance and elegance. It has abundant, fine-grained tannins and a medium to full-bodied palate. It should age nicely in bottle.
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Wine Enthusiast
Old vines are key to this wine from a vineyard in the Pinhão Valley. Its concentration and dark spice aromas are impressive with game and black cherry aromas and rich tannins. Drink from 2027.
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Wine Spectator
Warm fig and black plum fruit is spiced with cinnamon and anise notes in this red, with an expressive profile animated by blood orange peel acidity. Shows fine balance, integrating sculpted tannins and savory black olive, mountain herb and mineral details that linger on the finish. The best of four bottles tasted. Drink now through 2035.
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.