QUINTA DO VALE MEÃO MEANDRO DOURO TINTO

This wine is named after the majestic oxbow bend taken by the Douro river around the Meão estate. It is richly structured and with no concessions to immediate softness. It needs to age to bring its black fruits into full harmony with the structure.

Nicely textured, with smooth tannins, this elegant, full-bodied red is packed with dark cherry, violet, red plum and anise notes that are harmonious and well-integrated. Details of mocha, wild herb and spice cascade onto the finish. Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca and Alicante Bouschet.

90 Points, Wine & Spirits

Meandro is Vale Meão’s the second wine, mostly touriga nacional, touriga franca and tinta roriz. Francisco Olazabal and his team foot tread each variety for four hours in granite lagars before fermenting the wines in small vats, then aging them in used French oak barrels. Time in oak enriches the dark plum and currant flavors of the fruit, adding some black walnut tones. The fruit feels cool and spicy, brisk and bright, suggesting the oak, which blunts the finish for now, will meld with bottle age.

The 2018 Meandro do Vale Meão is a blend of 45% Touriga Nacional, 30% Touriga Franca, 20% Tinta Roriz and dollops of Tinta Barroca and Alicante Bouschet for the rest, all aged for 14 months in used French oak. It comes in at 14.1% alcohol. This is often a can’t-miss bargain in Douro, and that seems true again this year. Textured with velvet, concentrated and able to coat the palate, it does everything well. It is not a star in terms of structure—the tannins are ripe and you can drink it now—but everything else works great. It should still hold well for the rest of the decade, more or less. It did thin a bit with extended aeration, but nothing went seriously awry.