2020 Pintas
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Tasting notes
Full bottle an unnecessarily heavy 1,522 g. A single-vineyard wine, 90 years old with 40 varieties in the field blend. Harvest started 5 September in perfect weather conditions. All grapes were destemmed and foot-trodden in stone lagares during all the fermentation process (10 days). The ageing and malolactic fermentation took place in French oak barrels during 20 months. Very dark colour with black core and purple rim. Dark-fruited, deep, rich and spicy but not sweet-smelling. Such pure dark fruit all tied up with the rocky/mineral aroma of the Douro. Deep, dark, refined. Still a baby but showing its extreme refinement and high potential from the get-go. A real beauty that needs time but showing its credentials even in youth. Long, long finish. (JH)
Critic scores
Average Score
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
Mark Squires
More reviews and scores
The 2020 Pintas is a field blend (over 40 grapes, but the dominant grapes are Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz and Touriga Nacional) from old vines (around 90 years) aged for 20 months in 20% new French oak. It comes in at 14.4% alcohol. This may have been a tougher vintage in many respects, but it was a small crop harvested quickly and early. This multilayered Pintas is ripe and darkly flavored but never over the top and rather fresh. There's plenty of power on the finish too, and it simply grips the palate. This needs to be socked away for a few years. I tasted the final blend and out of barrel, but it was not yet bottled, about three weeks away. Plan on cellaring it. It should age for 30 years, more or less.