2017 Barbusano Madeirense Touriga Nacional - Aragonez Barricas

Community Tasting Notes (2) Avg Score: 87 points

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  10/1/2022 - forceberry wrote: 87 Points

  The reserve version of Barbusano Tinto: here the blend contains more Touriga Nacional and the wine is aged for 9 months in "Barbusano barricas". 13% alcohol.
  
  Very dark, almost fully opaque black cherry color. The nose feels dark-toned and somewhat stinky with slightly reduced aromas of blueberries, some fresh red plums, a little bit of flatulent reduction, light toasty woody tones, a hint of ink and a touch of sweet spices. The wine is dry, youthful and quite light-bodied on the palate with crunchy flavors of chokeberries and crowberries, some dull woody tones, a little bit of brambly raspberry, light ferrous notes of blood, a hint of sour cherry bitterness and a touch of earth. The structure relies on both high acidity and firm medium tannins, and it feels quite balanced with the relatively light body of the wine. The finish is dry, youthful and somewhat grippy with quite long but a bit dull flavors of ferrous blood, some crunchy notes of crowberries, a little bit of brambly raspberry, light woody tones, a hint of earth and a touch of stewed herbs.
  
  A rather nice and enjoyably firm red from the lighter end of the spectrum. Pretty good for a red Madeirense, but nothing particularly memorable. Didn't really benefit much from aeration, so I'd say the wine needs some more age to really blow off that reduction. Seeing how the wine is quite structured and rather youthful now, at 5 years of age, it will easily develop for at least another 5 years, if not more. Pretty good and drinkable, but a tad expensive for the quality at 27,50€.

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  9/5/2022 - forceberry wrote: 87 Points

  The reserve version of Barbusano Tinto: here the blend contains more Touriga Nacional and the wine is aged for 9 months in "Barbusano barricas". 13% alcohol.
  
  Quite deep and moderately opaque blackish-red color. Savory, dark-toned and subtly stinky nose with aromas of fresh dark fruits, some inky tones, a little bit of ripe black raspberry, light woody notes, a reductive hint of smoke and a mineral touch of wet rocks. The wine feels dense, quite focused and rather crunchy on the palate with a medium body and somewhat linear but also enjoyably intense flavors of tart lingonberries and crunchy crowberries, some red currants, a little bit of ferrous blood, light savory notes of woody spice, a hint of fresh red plum and a touch of perhaps reductive smoke. The overall feel is nicely structured, thanks to the high acidity and somewhat grippy medium tannins. The dry finish is lively and crunchy with some tannic grip and a quite lengthy aftertaste of redcurrants, some saline mineral tones, a little bit of tart lingonberry and cranberry, light smoky notes and a woody hint of savory oak spice.
  
  A quite nice, pleasant and serious red wine from the lighter end. Considering how this wine showed more power and intensity than the rather disappointing Barbusano Tinto 2018 that was tasted alongside, I suppose the producer has attempted to make this wine as big and burly as possible. Well, no matter the intention, this is still a relatively light and enjoyably crunchy little cool-climate red. I guess there would be some better red varieties than Touriga Nacional or Tempranillo for these purposes but, hey, what do I know. All in all, an enjoyable effort and among the best Madeirense reds I've tasted - although feels a bit pricey for the quality at 30€. Needs some aeration to blow that reduction.

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