2014 Herdade do Mouchao Ponte das Canas

Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Syrah on clay and sandy soils. Hand-picked, foot-trodden in stone lagares, twice a day over 5-7 days. Aged 18 months in French and American oak. TA 6.5 g/l, pH 3.44. Unnecessarily heavy bottle. Deep cherry red, still vibrant in colour. More perfumed and sweeter-smelling than the Dom Rafael 2015 just tasted, with some oak sweetness as well as that of black cherry and blueberry fruit. Just a hint of the bergamot perfume associated with Touriga Nacional. On the palate, plush, generous and rounded in texture even though the tannins are still present and definite, becoming chewy as they build in the mouth, then an attractively dry tannic finish to balance the depth of fruit. Powerful but not heavy. Still a way to go and definitely needs food, ideally red meat. 16.5 points