Douro

From Portugal, a source of some of the best values in red table wine today.  This is an equal parts blend of Tinta Barroca, Touriga France, and Tinta Roriz.  It retails for $10.  Purple in color.  The nose is dusty with boysenberry fruit.  On the palate, this has medium tannins.  Black cherries and raspberry fruit.  Some underlying dry earth.  Good balance.  Will work with a wide variety of foods but also as a nice wine on its own.  Great for parties.  

Pop and pour, this may have benefited from a decant.  From a 375ml.  Purple in color.  The nose has black cherries, some dust and a bit of chocolate.  On the palate, the black cherries and chocolate carry thru.  Nice texture.  Finishes a bit hot but that was saved by serving it with vegan salted caramel pecan ice cream and a brownie.  Over all this is very good if not at the top level of vintage ports.  

Purple in color.  The nose is dusty with plum.  On the palate, one dimensional plums.  Tasty.  For under $20, there is good value here.  Easy drinking.  Very modern, fruit forward wine.  

From a 375ml.  Ruby in color, clear and bright.  The nose is dusty with black raspberries.  On the palate, this has sweet black raspberry fruit.  Still drinking young.  Layers of fruit along with char.  Long finish.  Not overtly sweet but a bit sweet.  Plenty of time based on this bottle.  

Ruby in color.  This was pop and pour.  The nose is nice with raspberries and milk chocolate.  Slight alcohol.  On the palate, this is very good if not great.  Milk chocolate covered dried raspberries.  Some heat.  Not the depth or complexity of other vintages for this house.  Heat on the finish. 

Purple/ruby in color.  The nose is custy with clay, cherries, cocoa and a bubble gum note.  On the palate, this is sweet black cherry fruit.  Slightly disjointed at first, it came together in the glass and continued to put on weight.  Very nice red and black cherries.  Good complexity.  Slight tannins.  At this point, this seems at or close to peak, yet given that it took time to come together, perhaps not.  It would be interesting to revisit this in a few years.  

Ruby/purple in color.  The nose is nice with dark cherries, black raspberries and cigar.  On the palate, soft dark cherries with good acidity.  Tight layering that unwinds in the glass.  Lovely texture.  Nice finish.  Worked well with food.  While not quite as good as the Maria Teresa, it is also one third the price.  This will probably improve a bit in the cellar and certainly has a nice decade or two left.  

Purple in color, ruby at the rim.  The nose is great with black raspberries, dust and spice and char.  This was decanted for a bit before trying.  On the palate, there is a great precision here.  Lots of black raspberry fruit with dried leaves and charred earth.  A bit of tobacco.  It is tightly layered but unwinds in the glass.  Long finish.  A beautiful wine with a bright future.