Quinta do Crasto Reserva Vinhas Velhas 2019

The 2019 Reserva Old Vines (average age of 70 years) was aged for 16 to 18 months, depending on vineyard plots, in 65% new (85% French) oak. It comes in at 14.8% alcohol. This represents 38 of Crasto's 42 plots and/or small vineyards of old vines, with Maria Teresa and Vinha da Ponte both bottled separately this year. Dark, deep and rich, this leans to bitter chocolate this year. Like most of these 2019s from Crasto, it adds a serious backbone and demands some cellaring. I tend to put a fairly early "start" date for drinking windows, but that doesn't mean it will be at peak or fully ready. One of the more powerful Old Vines bottlings recently, this should be socked away for a few years. Come back in the middle of the decade for better results. I could say that about all of Crasto's reds in this report. It's a powerful group. There were 90,000 bottles produced, plus some half bottles and large-format bottles.