2013 Tonel No 3-4
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Tasting notes
The 2013 Tinto Tonel No. 3-4 was aged for 40 months in large Portuguese and Brazilian tonels, then held back for 22 months in bottle. It comes in at 14.5% alcohol. When last seen, this was brilliant. It is on track and developing well. Dark and more closed, this lacks the lively and fresher style of the regular Estate Tinto (either the 2014 or the 2015), but it has more power and plenty of depth. The flavor profile is perhaps not quite as enticing, as it is acquiring a bit of a darker feel, but this is well done. It is a long-term wine that is nowhere close to finishing its development. It is also not at peak. Grab some if you can find it and have a cellar. There will be, I'm told, a small amount of Tonel No. 3-5 in 2015, but nothing after that until 2021.
Critic scores
Average Score
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
Mark Squires
More reviews and scores
Alicante Bouschet hand-picked from the Carapetos vineyard. Fermentation in stone tanks where foot-treading occurs twice daily. Aged in Mouchão's famous wooden vats – numbers 3 and 4 – made from Portuguese oak, mahogany and macacaúba (Brazilian hardwood) for 24 months. Made only in years of exceptional quality. TA 6.9 g/l, pH 3.49, RS 4.5 g/l. Black core as only Alicante Bouschet can give, with smudgy black-cherry rim. Intense Alicante fruit: sweet, black and spicy, but more in the blackberry/mulberry spectrum than anything as domesticated as blackcurrant. Seductively rich. On the palate, this is a massive wine. Fills the mouth in such a way that it is hard to speak straight away but without any heaviness or agression, just mouth-fillingly generous and rich and concentrated. It's a complete contrast to the light, pretty pale reds that are so popular at the moment but is a class act in this style, which is equally valid when done well, especially with the long and glorious tradition of a producer such as Mouchão. The different types of wood do mark the wine but in a way that is hard to describe, especially when the grapes themselves produce so much spicy flavour. Long, incredibly seductive in a larger-than-life sort of way, but still well-mannered. You can't see the residual sugar because of all the lovely fruit richness. It is fresher than you might expect given the richness. (JH)