Characteristics: Perhaps it should not come as a surprise seeing as this dry red comes to us from the Symington family –whose name is synonymous with Ports but it comes as a happy surprise that this wine resembles every bright charm of Port without any of the sweet dried fruit reserved to that fortified category. This is heady and fragrant sure but with freshly crushed boysenberries and sliced plums. With a palate the texture of velvet and seasoned with baking spices, this is just short of brooding. Instead we find a gentle giant whose charms are the contrast betwixt strength and restraint, and ones angst over what they might expect from this brawny sort vanishes before the beaming smile they encounter instead. This sustainable red is made from the Portuguese varieties Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz and Tinta Barroca.
Wine review by Nicholas Livingston, April 2013