2017 Touriga Nacional
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Tasting notes
A dry and early year with quite a bit of water stress and small berries. 33-year-old vines at 400 m. Grapes from their best Touriga Nacional plots at Quinta do Crasto. After complete destemming and slight crushing, the juice is transferred to temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks. Once the alcoholic fermentation is completed, the juice is gently pressed. 18 months in French oak barrels. TA 8.8 g/l, pH 3.57. Bottled January 2020. Intense purple-crimson. Super-concentrated Touriga aromas of ripe, scented, black fruits and an impression of the wild scrubland and rocks of the Douro terraces, managing to be both floral and spicy/savoury. Unexpectedly juicy and fresh even with all this fruit concentration. Some red-fruit sweetness on the palate too, like cranberry. Firm, rounded and supple tannins make this a big but balanced wine with long ageing potential. Much better than the Touriga Franca in this vintage. (JH)
Critic scores
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Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
Mark Squires
More reviews and scores
The 2017 Touriga Nacional was aged for 16 to 18 months, depending on the plot, in 90% new, light-toast French oak. This was bottled just about 10 days before this tasting. It comes in at just 13.5% alcohol, on par with the 2016 even in this big vintage. Winemaker Manuel Lobo said it was picked September 6—very early—and he at first feared that he picked too early. However, he said there was "excellent fruit expression, great concentration and ripe tannins. The amount of fruit per vine was very small." If there is a flaw in the Touriga Franca—well, just call it a different style of grape, not really a flaw—it is that it doesn't have a big personality, although it represents the grape very well. Problem (if you view it as one) solved, although in Crasto's world, Touriga Nacional always has some restraint. This adds expressive blue fruits, a more elegant demeanor and enticing—but not obnoxious—aromatics. It has plenty of power of its own, easily matching and surpassing the Touriga Franca (although a step behind the Tinta Roriz). Dry, serious, fresh and invigorating, this is a potentially great Crasto Touriga. However, given the recent bottling coupled with travel, I'm going to use a range here. The only issue, however, is how good it is. Manuel said he believes the early picking date was the right decision. There were 8,276 bottles produced, plus some large-format bottles.