Mouchão Tinto, Herdade do Mouchao 2011

The 2011 Tinto, i.e., the flagship Estate wine with just "Mouchão" on the label, is the typical blend of Alicante Bouschet and Trincadeira aged for 24 months in oak. It comes in at 14% alcohol. A bit funky on opening, it has a touch of green olive followed by a lot of oak flavor. This big boy is also tightly wound, rather intense on the finish in both flavor and power, and desperately in need of more time in the bottle. It shows beautiful mid-palate finesse and laser-like precision, good acidity and plenty of grip on that lingering finish. If the Trincadeira (from which, I suspect, some of the funk comes) stays in control, this has the chance to become rather brilliant, perhaps even more so than I now think. Give it some time, though. You don't want to drink this today. It should be a lot more harmonious and expressive around 2020. Granting that there is some projection here for its potential, I have to lean up on this just now.

The proportions in the blend are usually around 85% red-fleshed Teinturier Alicante Bouschet planted at 230 m on clay soils, plus 15% Trincadeira (aka Tinta Amarela in the Douro). Foot trodden and fermented in lagares, 2-3 years in large wooden vats and then 2-3 years in bottle before release. Inky black cherry. Invitingly warm and spicy on the nose - rich, ripe and generous but still with terrific intensity of Alicante Bouschet's typical spiced dark fruit with a streak of small wild berries. Deep and smooth on the palate, the tannins still quite thick even though they are smoothed by the time in wood and bottle. The freshness is remarkable given the depth and generosity of the fruit, so that the whole has great balance and length. Much much more to come.