The 2018 Vinha Maria Teresa, a field blend from centenarian vines, was aged for 20 months in new oak (90% French, 10% American). It comes in at 14.7% alcohol. Gorgeous, precise, powerful and just a little sexy, too, this is another great Maria Teresa. The brand has built quite a track record of late. Showing fine fruit, some mid-palate finesse and waves of controlled flavor, this then adds some serious pop on the finish. The tannins are not overly astringent here, but there are plenty of them, so this is not close to being ready to drink. Plus, from experience, this is a bottling that will acquire far more finesse, complexity and balance if you cellar it. Peak moments will come closer to the end of this decade than now. Could you drink it now? Yes, because, again, those tannins are not too hard but even giving it a couple of years would help a lot. Will you have wasted at least some of this wine's potential if you dive in now? Definitely. This has hints of greatness today. It mingles elegance, flavor and structure, but it has yet to put it all together. It was certainly better the next day. So it would be best to come back around the end of this decade, not its beginning. I'm leaning up on this gorgeous red. There were 5,970 regular bottles produced, along with 250 magnums and 30 three-liter bottles. As with most of Crasto's 2018 reds, this will not be released until October 2021.
James Suckling (94)
BOW (8.75)
Jancis Robinson (18.50)
Full bottle 1,468 g. Centenarian vines, more than 50 varieties in a field blend. Hand-picked from these amazing old terraces, destemmed and trodden in a traditional lagar (stone trough). Fermented in temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks. Aged about 20 months in new oak barrels (90% French oak; 10% American oak). The final wine is made from a selection of the best barrels. TA 5.7 g/l, pH 3.54.
Black core with a purplish crimson rim. The aroma is so much more complex than on the varietal wines and the blends of 2–3 varieties, so much so that the fruit character is hard to describe. Both red and black fruits, black olives, dark, rocky, mineral. A little bit inscrutable at this young stage. The tannins are beautiful and massive at the same time. Dense, thick, chewy, smooth and yet destined to become extremely refined with many years' bottle age. Wait for this one. Impressive persistence. Such a shame to taste this now rather than drinking it in 10 or 20 years' time. Unexpected freshness on the long finish. (JH)
Wine Enthusiast (96)
Fermented in stone lagars, this wine has a rich, open character. From a field blend of old vines, it is impressively structured and densely textured. The black fruits and powerfully ripe tannins will take time. Drink the wine from 2025. Roger Voss
