2020 Conceito Tinto Douro

The 2020 Tinto, the estate flagship, is a field blend from very old vines (90+ years) aged for 22 months in 50% new French oak, the rest in second-use French oak. It comes in at 14.4% alcohol. When first seen, this impressed me for its intensity of fruit flavor and concentration but less so for its structure. For this winery and its typical style, this is a relatively dense wine with very concentrated fruit. With another six months or so in bottle, it has evolved very well in that respect. It is now showing more expressive fruit. It is always delicious. The tannins were and are ripe, so they don't interfere much. That gives this a polished demeanor that makes it drinkable now, lush and delicious. The caveat is that the fruit is so young and undeveloped that you won't be getting everything this has if you open it now. You could dive in, and I'll maintain the start-date drinking window that acknowledges that, but two or three years more of development could make this far more expressive and nuanced. As polished and refined as this is, I wonder how well it will age. That constrained my enthusiasm the first time around, but the fruit is showing so well now, let's lean up this time. It certainly isn't going to fall apart in the foreseeable future, but it does need to demonstrate some ability to improve in the cellar over a reasonable time if it is going to be a truly great estate Tinto. It has a good shot, but everyone is sure going to love that fruit. (MS)