2010 Quinta do Crasto Tinta Roriz Douro

Reviews

The 2010 Tinta Roriz was aged for 16 months in new French oak and bottled in May, 2012. This is a very civilized and graceful Tinta Roriz, far too marked by oak at the moment, but showing wonderful elegance. With air, it surely tightens, showing its reasonable backbone while never becoming overbearing. As it sits, it demonstrates finesse and the potential for aging and development. It is not terribly fleshy, but it is very graceful and focused. It does not show much character today, but that should come in time. Let’s be a bit conservative in evaluation right at this moment, but this should improve notably with a couple of years of cellaring, so don’t waste your bottles today even if it seems approachable. Drink 2014-2025. Crasto is not the only Douro producer that had a nice 2010 vintage – a year reputed to be difficult. However, Crasto is surely one of those that overachieved in it. Having seen these as a group three times now in various places and contexts, I feel confident in saying that there isn’t much to argue about here. All pros and cons considered, they aren’t much if at all off of their normal pace, although they sometimes lean a little more to the finesse side of the equation. With this most recent tasting, they also demonstrated the ability to evolve in the glass, change and improve significantly. The upper level wines were all retasted the next day as well and held their own beautifully. Particularly impressive – the lower level 2010s also seemed to show exceptionally well and offer a lot of value for the money. There wasn’t much compromise there at all. ~92pts WA