Conde de Vimioso Reserva 2018

The 2018 Reserva Conde de Vimioso is a blend of 30% Touriga Nacional, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Aragonez, 30% Castelão, all aged for 18 months in 40% new French oak. It comes in at 14.7% alcohol. Textured with velvet and complex in its flavor medley, this is ripe yet serious. It's never a fruit bomb. It has the structure to age and develop. It adds concentration and a few layers. The tannins are fairly ripe, but this needs to be put away for a year, preferably more if you'd like to see better balance and complexity. Overall, this is a fine follow-up to the lovely 2017, but (granting both are not here together), I'd give the nod to the 2017 in the long run. This is still pretty nice.