TN: 2000 Quinta do Vallado Reserva Douro

[Andy Velebil]

I found this one off bottle at a retailer near me earlier this year. I've only had this once before, in 2010 at the Quinta itself. Decanted about 2 hours. Initially this showed a lot of vanilla oak flavors which were not in balance. But as this gained more time in the decanter the red stone fruit, acidity, minerality, and anise started to offset that oak. A moderate and slightly tannic and mineral driven finish showed more complexity and depth than the palate. Though the fruit never totally offset it, as the oak constantly peeked through, this was consistent with the prior bottle of this I've had. Though a nice early vintage, drink soon as I don't see this getting better and it appears the vanilla oak is outliving the fruit.
88 Points