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84 SEPTEMBER 2019
2009 ELADIO PIÑEIRO LA COARTADA
GRANDE ESCOLHA ($31)
Eladio Piñeiro farms biodynamically
and holds this Alentejo red until he
feels it’s ready to drink. Its liqueur-like
raspberry fruit and forest-floor notes
end on soft, fine tannins.
2016 PRATS & SYMINGTON
PRAZO DE RORIZ ($17)
Quinta de Roriz, in the heart of the
Douro Valley, is the source for this
blackberry-juicy red. Its flavors suggest
the ripening heat of Portugal’s summer
and the valley’s abundant wild herbs.
2016 QUINTA DO VALE
MEÃO DOURO ($100)
Vale Meão was long the heart of Por-
tugal’s iconic Barca Velha red. Now
owner Francisco Olazabal makes his
own stellar wine there, full of violets,
mocha, and rich black raspberry fruit.
2016 FILIPA PATO & WILLIAM WOUTERS
NOSSA CALCARIO RED ($35)
Husband-and-wife team Pato and
Wouters make, as they say, “wines
without makeup”—certainly this
floral, light-bodied Bairrada red, with
no new oak at all, fits that ambition.
2016 HERDADE DO ROCIM
ALICANTE BOUSCHET ($20)
Partners Catarina Vieira and Pedro
Ribeiro run this ambitious southern
Alentejo estate. The scent of this
aromatic, violet-hued wine recalls bay
leaves and black cherries.
2016 DAC TINTO ($16)
Alvaro Castro, the Dão region’s
premier winemaker, uses organically
grown grapes from his Quinta da
Pellada estate—where vines have been
grown since the early 1500s—for this
cherry-inflected, peppery wine.
2017 QUINTA DE LA ROSA RED ($20)
Jorge Moreira is one of the Douro
Valley’s most talented winemakers,
and this wine he makes for Quinta de
la Rosa, with its dark-berried fruit
and scent of violets, features estate-
grown grapes and is a serious bargain.
2017 JOÃO PORTUGAL RAMOS
VILA SANTA RED ($10)
Ebullient red fruit notes, exceptionally
enjoyable but uncomplicated, are the
signature of this value-oriented blend
from vineyards near Estremoz in the
south of Portugal.
2017 WARRE’S VINTAGE PORT ($140)
In the extraordinary 2017 port vintage,
possibly the best in 30 years, the wines
from the top houses are all stellar, but
the Warre leaps out with fine floral aro-
mas, fresh plum and blackberry fruit,
and concentrated intensity.
REDS
