2011 Herdade do Esporão Quatro Castas

Community Tasting Notes (6) Avg Score: 88 points

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  1/7/2020 - ClaytonDave Does not like this wine:

  Flawed. Past prime.

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  8/29/2014 - brooklynwine wrote: 87 Points

  Day one - Consistent with previous note. 85
  Day two - Opened up a bit. Was not as flat and it seemed to develop a bit of freshness, making it less flabby. There was also more red fruit on this day. 87
  
  I still wouldn't seek it out but it was definitely a better experience.

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  9/17/2013 - forceberry wrote: 87 Points

  As one could guess from the name, this is a blend of four varieties: Alicante Bouschet, Aragonez aka Tempranillo, Petit Verdot and Syrah. Aged for 6 months in French and American barrels and for a further 6 months in bottles.
  
  Somewhat translucent ruby red color. Brooding, dark-toned and slightly sweet nose with inky aromas of bilberries, cassis, some plummy dark fruit, a little herbaceousness and an oaky undercurrent of vanilla and sweet smoky wood. Contrasting the sweet nose, the wine fiils more dry and less toasty on the palate with quite full body and ample, grippy tannins. There are surprisingly fresh and crunchy flavors of blackcurrants, tart dark plums, peppery spice, some vanilla and hints of spicy wood. Overall the wine feels quite robust and powerful with rather muscular frame. Again, contrasting the midpalate, the finish is surprisingly smooth and even slightly sweet with flavors of succulent, ripe plums, cocoa oak, some ripe dark berries and hints of bitter dark chocolate. The tannins give the aftertaste quite astringent, rough finish.
  
  A well-made and structured Portuguese blockbuster that shows nice power, but it is also made in such modern, polished style that it lacks character. Structure-wise, this is well rooted in the robust Portuguese tradition, but flavor-wise the wine feels more anonymous, lacking sense of place. I can imagine a wine this structured can easily hold for 5-10 more years in a cellar, so probably the wine might gain some more complexity and character as it ages. Definitely a food wine - this is too tannic and muscular to be of much enjoyment on its own. At approx. 13€ the wine shows good value for its quality.

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  9/17/2013 - avp wrote:

  Dark fruit nose with bitter herbs, liquorice and slightly rubbery toasted oak.
  Full bodied and pretty powerful palate with lots of fruit, tight tannic grip and pencil shavings finish.
  Perfectly decent little Alentejo powerhouse, but nothing to get back to.

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  9/2/2013 - brooklynwine wrote: 85 Points

  Very average wine. Color: Dark purple; Nose: Blackberry, black cherry, and oak. Palate: Nothing complex. Black fruit, oak, dark chocolate. This is an ok wine, for $14 what do you expect. I pay almost as much for a six pack these days. Simple fruity wine, not bad but not worth seeking out.

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