Quinta do Portal Grande Reserva 2019

The 2019 Grande Reserva is mostly a 60/30 blend of Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz, with 10% Touriga Franca, aged for 14 months in new French oak. It comes in at 14.8% alcohol. The Portal red blends have been lovely and succulent this year, wines everyone will enjoy, but they mostly also are a little soft, making me wonder if they have the wherewithal to age and improve. In the $22 price range, I might say, "Who cares?" That's not really part of my analysis in terms of whether I want to buy a red wine in that price range. At $60, that's another calculation. Here, too, there needs to be a bit more evidence of developmental abilities, but this is certainly the best structured of the red blends this issue. It has more firmness on the finish, while still seeming surprisingly soft for such a young, upper-level wine. That said, it certainly lingers more on the finish than its red-blend siblings this issue. It has some finesse and persistence to go with the big fruit. On the whole, this is a success. It needs to show more after cellaring to become a bigger one, but let's start here for the moment.