2013 Esporao Reserva Tinto

The 2013 Reserva is a blend of 30% Aragonês, 30% Trincadeira, 20% Alicante Bouschet and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged for 12 months in 34% new oak (70% American, the rest French). It comes in at 14.5% alcohol. A tricky year in Portugal, it was still possible to find many excellent wines as long as you picked before the rain. In Alentejo, things often went very well, though, not always mirroring the problems late-ripening vineyards had. It was, says the winery, an excellent year. "Lower than average rainfall contributed to a smaller crop with high-quality concentrated grapes." This is grapey up front, with more power than depth. As tends to be the case here, it is built to age. It is nowhere near ready to drink just now, but it is getting there. As with some of the oldest vintages in this long vertical, I do suspect the fruit here will take a back seat to the power as this ages. So, while you can (and probably should) hold this several more years, don't let the tannins fool you. It likely will be better in the mid-term than as a wine with 20 years of cellaring. It is remarkably tasty now, but it did close down hard and fast too. There were 500,000 bottles produced.