2017 Fedellos do Couto Lomba dos Ares

The red village 2017 Lomba dos Ares was bottled one week before I tasted it next to the 2016, which is very different—2016 was a cool, wet year, and 2017 was warm and dry and resulted in a very early harvest. The wine was produced and aged in exactly the same way both years, but the 2017 has a tad less acidity. The nose of the 2017 is quite pretty, with notes of small berries and herbs, and the palate shows some austerity, with some more tannin than the Cortezada from the same vintage. This might need a little more time in bottle to show a more expressive palate. 8,000 bottles were filled in December 2018.