Quinta do Vale Meao Monte Meao Douro DOC – 2012

“The 2012 Monte Meão is the third bottling of this rather different Touriga Nacional–a single vineyard Touriga from granitic rather than schist soil. It was aged for 15 months in used French oak and sourced from 17-year-old vines. Vale Meão’s experiment in terroir here is quite fascinating. Compare the more traditional Touriga that Xito Olazabal makes for Vallado with this granitic soil, Douro Superior version and you get a very different wine. Opening rather sharp, perfumed, elegant and crisp, this always maintains a sunny and elegant demeanor, but fleshes out as it airs out, putting on a bit of weight and becoming more gripping on the palate, too. Finishing with flavor and a bit of tannic pop, this is ever more impressive. It started slow, but became exceptional. Showing refinement in the mid-palate and real structure as well, it is more or less approachable, but it could use a few years to settle down and acquire more complexity. It will be interesting to see what this turns into over a decade or so. Just to see if my preconception was correct, I tried this out with a bit of food. It really sang prettier songs. This is not yet imported or released; the price is merely the producer’s estimate. There were 700 cases produced.” Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate