Wine & Soul, Pintas, Douro

deep dark burgundy, little clarity, ruby hue Nose: blackberry, blueberry, chocolate, leather, tobacco, balsamic, bay leaf, black pepper, clove, garrigue, oak Pal: blackberry, blueberry, espresso, chocolate, leather, tobacco, balsamic, bay leaf, black pepper, dirt, clove, garrigue, fine tannins, oak Feel: full, astringent Finish: medium, long TC8

Purple colour, nose with a beautiful balance between fruit and vegetal. Blueberrys, dry herbs, spice, chocolate and balsamic notes. The tannins are so smooth but still very present after a few hours of breathing. It's an elegant wine, full bodied and very round with a very long finish. Outstanding.

Októbersmakk hjá Eðalklúbbnum (Hlíðarás 10) : Mjög dökkt á litinn. Í jaðri smá appelsínugulir tónar þó þetta sé bara þriggja ára gamalt vín. Þægilegur ilmur. Mikið þroskaður. Brennd eik, heslihnetur, appelsína og mynta. Svo á tungunni: Mikil fylling. Fersk og mikil sýra. Hnetu, kaffi og sveskjutónar. Við áttuðum okkur ekki á hvaðan þetta vín kæmi. Maður gleymir alltaf Portúgal. Við opnuðum svo annað vín frá sama framleiðanda. Það átti að vera dýrara en svo kom í ljós að flöskurnar höfðu …

Well-balanced, complex, full body, good tannins

Deep, rich wine with coffee accents. Quite plush and thick but well balanced with good acidity and sweet but firm tannins. A bit rustic, in a good way, and quite tasty and seems like it needs some time to come around but I like the style. 89+

Solid all around wine. These Douro table wines are a little like cali cabs, little like french bdx and even a little aussie kick but nothing else in the world is quite like the douro. Black in the glass, tight-nit with good acidity and tannin, nose was a bit closed but very full and expressive in the mouth; provideing tar, asian spice, mint and a hint of white pepper. Decanted 5hrs and consumed with Brazialian Pichana and Asperagus. This develop …

polaner fall 06 : Rich fruit driven wine, sweet fruit on the nose, tar?. black fruit dominating the medium weight midpalate. rich on the finish with serous tannins. excellent effort.

Polaner Selections Fall Preview Tasting (New York City) : Deep ruby color. On the nose, intense black fruit, tar, spice and a touch of menthol. On the palate it has good grip with smooth tannins and a long finish. Nice stuff.

Encontro Mistral 2006 : Second time I tasted this alongside the Quinta do vale meao and the second time this takes a beating. Not quite as good as the Meao. Less complex, less powerful, less everything but...more expensive? Not a good combination.