Ramblings from the Douro that led to '76 Suduiraut

[Roy Hersh]

We got started very late as my guests arrived at 10:30 this evening. We began with a very basic 2006 Quinta do Crasto Vinho Tinto, which had been decanting for 6 hours. Although simple it was very tasty and truly a wine designed as a fine complement to the right food.

We then graduated to the 2003 Quinta do Crasto, Maria Teresa. I remember Mark's review when he first put out his Douro report. This wine continues to improve with the years. One of the finer Douro DOC wines, I still prefer the 2004 Vinha da Ponte, but that just compares two of the great wines from this region, from extremely different vintages. Nonetheless, the '03 MT is stunning, and we saved some for lunch tomorrow to see what it is like 27 hours later, as this had been decanted at 9 a.m. this morning.

We then moved on to a less than remarkable but highly touted RP Aussie sticky and then ended the night with a '76 Chateau Suduiraut that I pulled because the Aussie had just been "fair."

The Suduiraut was pulled straight from the cellar and popped and poured with no decanting. Initially a bit of bottle stink, but the cork came out in such perfect shape that I said, "if there is acidity ... this is going to rock." Fortunately, the nose improved dramatically over the next hour or so. From tight and funky, the nose evolved into over ripe pineapple and scintillating dried apricot.

The palate although only medium in body weight, showed an elegance and gained more viscosity with time. Declicious honeyed peach and apricot with a backdrop of coconut flavor, which was lifted by the accessible and supportive acidity. As it continued to warm, this came together and the texture grew more rich and mouth filling while retaining the lightness of being. Possibly the most significant fun for the palate was the finish which showed clean and sweet, with enough botrytis to provide an intricate aftertaste of coconut and tropical fruit. Very nice and worthy of 93-94 points.