“Very deep purplish crimson. Smells rich, sweet and ripe – and alcoholic, with oak as well as fruit sweetness. Very concentrated, almost eye-wateringly so. Full bodied, smooth, unexpectedly rounded tannins but plenty of them. Darker and more savoury in the flavours on the palate but I couldn’t drink more than a very small glass of this as it is so concentrated. The alcohol is just about in proportion but there’s a warmth at the back of the throat. Tastes more like a dry port than a red wine. So concentrated that the finish is just a touch bitter. You can have too much of a good thing. Lovers of mass and concentration may love it but it is too much for me, and I suspect it would be too much to match with food.”

“The 2018 Tinto Quinta de Ervamoira is a field blend aged for 18 months in one-third new French oak (about one-third overall in large vats). It comes in at 15% alcohol (actual). This is a single-quinta red, of course, only sourced from the best parcels. (There will eventually be a single-parcel wine too, but maybe not from this quinta.) Smooth and refined, this shows off its mid-palate finesse. In its youth, however, it also shows off that new wood a bit too much. That will get better in time. The tannins are very ripe, so you can drink this now, but you'd be well advised to give this a couple of years anyway to let it be all it can be. It's pretty delicious even now, though, and hard to resist.”

“Presents a dark and winey mix of black currant, blackberry and fig preserve flavors that meld steadily through the finish along with notes of roasted alder, licorice root and warm earth. On the old school side of the spectrum. Best from 2030 through 2045.”

“Bom Retiro is Ramos Pinto’s historic quinta, a steep rise above the south bank of the Douro, just downriver from Pinhão. In 2018, the site produced a wine of delicate persistence, the tannins painted dark in their earthy edges, the fruit mellow and ripe, like a Bosc pear poached in deep red wine. Bom Retiro has intensity and restraint, an inhalation of fruit, an exhalation of schist, a Portuguese-style vintage without the British power and bluster, if such generalizations can be made. While many buyers expect that power in their Porto, this wine offers its own refined pleasures.”

“The Port comes from a spectacular vineyard in the twisting Torto Valley, off the main Douro River. Its perfumed, floral fruits bring out the richness and the structure of a wine that will certainly need many years. Spice, jammy black fruits and tannins are mingled together in a wine that will be ready to drink from 2028.”