2015 Chryseia

The 2015 Chryseia is a 65/35 blend of Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca aged for 15 months in mostly (80%) new French oak. It comes in at 14.2% alcohol. When last seen, this was not long in bottle, so let's check in. What does this add to the Post Scriptum? Concentration, expressive fruit and structure. The tannins are very ripe, but the concentration of fruit here makes this impressive. It tastes great and the finish is long. Then, it adds refinement, mid-palate finesse and an elegant, fresh feel. This is surprisingly approachable right now, but I anticipate that it will age well for another decade—or two.

A great Douro vintage with grapes sourced from Quintas de Roriz, da Perdiz and da Vila Velha. A rich and velvety red showing warm spices and dried herbs on the nose, florality and freshness on the palate, and a long, beautifully lifted finish.

The 2015 Chryseia is a 65/35 blend of Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca aged for 15 months in mostly (80%) new French oak. It comes in at 14.2% alcohol. Wonderfully refined and sophisticated, with all that old-school finesse in the mid-palate, this still has sufficient depth—in fact, it expands in the glass—along with ripe tannins for support. Focused, flavorful and precise, this very debonair Chryseia doesn't lack for anything. It also, happily, isn't a wine that hits you over the head. It is all about elegance and balance. It should acquire more complexity with age and it will certainly reward a few years in the cellar, if not more. This could be a fine Bordeaux but instead it is a lovely Chryseia. It is a nice step up over the 2014—a much tougher year. While that overachieved, I doubt it will hold itself together in the cellar as well as this will. There were 39,500 bottles produced, plus some large format bottles.