Quinta de la Rosa La Rosa Reserva, Douro, Portugal

羅莎洛莎珍藏紅葡萄酒

點擊次數：8133

The 2019 Reserva is 40% Old Vines, 30% Touriga Nacional and 30% Touriga Franca, aged for 20 months in 50% new French oak. It comes in at 14.5% alcohol. A beauty, this is a graceful red with both freshness and intensity of flavor. It also shows admirable mid-palate finesse, concentration of fruit without being jammy, and ripe tannins. The finish is nuanced with dry blueberries and plums. This is surprisingly approachable now, but it is still undeveloped and in need of a couple of years of cellaring for best results. It is one of those refined, old-school offerings that has a certain understatement. You won't go "wow," but the bottle will empty quickly at the table. There were 15,000 bottles produced.

The 2017 Reserva is a 60/40 blend of Touriga Nacional and a field blend from old vines, aged for 18 months in 60% used French oak. This was a couple of weeks from bottling when seen, but it was the final blend. Fresh and possessed of vivid flavors, this also has big power and fine concentration without ever becoming jammy. A beautifully balanced and lively red, this does everything well and has not a hair out of place. There have been denser and more powerful Reservas from La Rosa but few as enlivening as this one.

The 2016 Reserva is a 60/40 blend of Touriga Nacional and a field blend from old vines, aged for 18 months in 60% used French oak. It comes in at 14.5% alcohol. This was just bottled when tasted, but this was actually a tank sample taken just before bottling. Showing big, ripe fruit and a fresh feel, this has plenty of concentration and some power on the finish. Yet at the same time, it is surprisingly elegant and lively this year. Beautifully done, this looks like a fine and refined La Rosa Reserva, with some ability to improve and develop in the cellar. It may well close down, but this sample was very accessible.

The 2015 Reserva is a blend of 40% Touriga Nacional, 10% Touriga Franca and 50% field blend from old vines, aged for 18 months in a 40/60 mixture of new and used French oak. It comes in at 14.5% alcohol. An exuberant 2015, this is impeccably balanced and intensely flavorful. The beautiful structure here is matched only by the fine fruit, with everything cooperating nicely. As it unwinds and opens, the concentration seems a bit less, but the freshness is a bit more impressive and the delicious fruit becomes open and expressive, showing all that intensity of flavor that the 2015s seem to have. This impressive red will be a pleasure to drink, but I'd particularly like to see it develop and improve in the cellar. Give it a few years if you can, but it will be more or less approachable when young. It may also age better than anticipated, but let's take that in stages. There were just 10,000 bottles produced.

The 2013 Reserva is the last in our vertical, although recently seen. It adds a bit of depth to the 2012, although its fruit is not quite as lifted. It is seductive and tasty, with impeccable balance, good concentration and an elegant feel. It has already pulled in some oak. With air, it shows off some power and takes on weight. In a difficult year, this is a surprisingly good Reserva and I continue to like it a lot.