Quinta do Crasto Douro Tinto 2010
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BN#476777 |
Regular$13.99 Web Sale Only$12.66 SKU05942 |  |
Quinta do Crasto
This wine is made from traditional Douro red grape varieties: Tinta Roriz, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Barroca and Touriga Franca. Unoaked, it is produced to be a fresh, fruity, easy-to-drink wine. Deep ruby in colour with very ripe red fruit aromas. Very fruity on the palate, with good structure and light tannins which make it a very pleasant wine.
Wine Advocate
The 2010 Tinto Crasto is part of a recent trilogy (beginning with the 2009) that has been pretty nice for this well-priced bottling. It wasn't so long ago that I wondered where this level was going. It has again become a nice and consistent value, something you can buy with confidence that delivers every year. Mostly Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz and Touriga Franca, this also has a dollop of Tinta Barroca. It was 95% tank aged, the rest in French oak. This is showing surprisingly well at the moment, better than I would have expected - but that's why you taste the wines, not just read the vintage reports. You expect wineries to pull out the stops for the upper level wines in a tough year, but it is not always clear what happens below. While I suspect that the sexy 2009 will eke out the minor victory among the three most recent vintages, they all have their merits, showing consistent and generally comparable quality as bottled. Like most of Crasto's 2010 lineup, this easily holds its own in its own style. The reason for that may be what the winery did here. There was a big cut in production, winemaker Manuel Lobo de Vasconcellos told me, "crucial to assure quality." There were 236,000 bottles of this, versus 288,000 of the 2011. If not quite as sexy as the 2009, it gets props for its balance and harmony. Yet, it isn't just elegant. In fact, it seems quite deep for its level in this vintage, while remaining juicy and focused. The young, mostly tank aged fruit is sweet, still fresh and glorious. If you're comparing, this has a bit more depth and seriousness in style than the very young vines Flor, while the Flor leans a little more to the exuberance of, say, Beaujolais. The gap between them is fairly small this year, but this Tinto is a better food match and likely able to last longer. Both will have their fans and their uses. This and other vintages should hold well enough for around 8 years from the vintage date, but I always think that it is preferable to approach them early (from release to the first couple of years after), to take maximum advantage of their youthful purity and freshness, which is certainly what they do best. Drink now-2018.
Score: 88.
—Mark Squires,
February
2013.
All sizes are 750mL unless otherwise noted.
Vintages and ratings subject to change at any time.
All pricing and availability subject to change.
Artwork does not necessarily represent items for sale.
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