A fascinating comparison to its younger 2019 twin, here the skin contact is very evident (even though it was 17 days, a bit less than in some other years) with a dark amber, tea-like colour and some serious tannic grunt.
The nose seems a bit oxidative at first, but actually with air it smells more and more of typical Douro roasted herbs and baked fruits. There’s a quite thrilling concentration of dried apricot fruit, grippy tannins, tea leaves
A big mouthful with serious structure, but those tannins keep it in balance.
Perhaps the freshness and elegance of the 2019 is lacking, but this is exciting and characterful.
The winemaker is Luis Seabra. The wine was wild fermented in open-top vats, before ageing in 500 lt French oak barrels (12 months) and then steel tanks (9 months). Course filtered, no fining. Total SO2 92mg/L