2013 Quinta de Chocapalha CH by Chocapalha

Community Tasting Notes (5) Avg Score: 90.2 points

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  5/13/2023 - forceberry wrote: 92 Points

  100% Touriga Nacional from a 29 years old vineyard. Fully destemmed fruit is first cold-soaked, then macerated with the skins for 12 days in lagares with "robot feet" aiding in pigeage. Aged in French barriques for 24 months. 14% alcohol, 0,5 g/l residual sugar, 5,72 g/l acidity, 0,79 g/l VA and pH 3,78.
  
  Deep, dark and quite opaque blackish-red color. The nose feels savory and somewhat evolved with a bit earthy aromas of blueberries, some gravelly mineral tones, a little bit of licorice root, light perfumed floral notes typical of Touriga Nacional, crunchy hints of fresh plums and chokeberries, a touch of sandy soil and a whiff of garrigue. The wine feels ripe yet very dry, dense and chewy with a full body and intense, savory flavors of dark forest fruits and fresh plums, some licorice root, light sweeter nuances of bilberries, a little bit of garrigue, a toasty hint of mocha oak and a touch of asphalt. The wine is quite firm and muscular - especially for the ripeness - with its rather high acidity and ample, moderately grippy tannins that slowly pile up on the gums. The finish is powerful, dark-toned and quite grippy with a long, savory aftertaste of bilberries and dark plums, some woody notes of savory oak spice, a little bit of licorice, light crunchy notes of chokeberries, a hint of garrigue and a toasty touch of sweeter oak character.
  
  It seems five years of aging helped this wine a lot. In its youth (well, at five years of age) this was ridiculously tough and tannic beast of a wine, but now the wine is more approachable with more sense of depth and complexity and the ample tannins aren't that tough or aggressive, even if the wine is still quite grippy by nature. However, it also seems that the wine has lost some of those heady, fragrant Touriga Nacional aromatics with age and the toasty oak notes have surprisingly come more to the fore - it feels as though the more oaky tones were better masked by the vibrant fruit flavors when the wine was younger, but now the fruit intensity has receded a little, the toasty nuances have gained more room. Although the wine feels stylistically a bit more modern and oaky than I'd like to, this is still a lovely, enjoyable and impressively structured Portuguese red all the same. Most likely the wine will continue to evolve and improve for at least another 6-10 years. Priced according to its quality at 34,50€.

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  8/11/2018 - Castello della Gatta Likes this wine: 90 Points

  Nice full bodied red. Dark red berries and mocha.

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  2/17/2018 - forceberry wrote: 90 Points

  100% Touriga Nacional, macerated for 12 days in lagares, aged in French barriques for 24 months. 14% alcohol, 0,5 g/l residual sugar, 5,72 g/l acidity, 0,79 g/l VA and pH 3,78. Tasted blind in VV.
  
  Completely opaque, inky purple color that seems to stain the glass. The nose feels very dense and somewhat closed with ripe and sweetish aromas of blueberry jam, some minty green notes, a little bit of vibrant floral character and a touch of dark-toned oak spice. The wine is full-bodied and obviously pretty ripe, yet still bone-dry on the palate with somewhat closed and savory flavors of boysenberries, sweeter blueberries, a little bit of volatile nail polish character, a hint of savory woody spice and a touch of perfumed floral character. The wine is ridiculously structured with moderately high acidity and unyielding wall of tannins that make the wine feel that it is tough as old leather boots. The finish is tough, aggressively tannic and powerful with intense, savory flavors of brambly blackberries and boysenberries, some fresh dark plums, a little bit of savory woody spice, a hint of minty character and a touch of sweet lifted VA character.
  
  An incredibly structured, extracted and massive wine that is just too painfully young at the moment. The winery really shouldn't release this massive and closed wines after this short aging - most likely this wine will need to be around 10 years of age before it starts to hit its drinking window and probably another decade before it actually starts to strut its stuff. The wine feels like it is really built for the long haul. A very impressive wine and it will certainly increase its rating as it ages, but that's not going to happen fast. Priced according to its quality at 33,90€.

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  2/14/2018 - Zweder wrote: 90 Points

  Monthly Tasting Group HWS #126; Portugal (By AW and @ AW): Intense bouquet with firm red and dark berries, laurel, vanilla and beautiful oak. On the palate dark berries, coconut, sweet spices, juicy red fruit acidity and round tannin. Beautiful modern style wine with a good length. 90+

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  1/19/2018 - maaike2 wrote: 89 Points

  Two hours in decanter. Nice upfront well made wine. A touch of earthyness lifts this wine above the average. Elegant tannins, An all men's friend with additional quality, really nice. I would like to taste an other bottle, this was a gift from my friend Kai who is married to a woman with Portugese roots.

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