Alvaro Castro: Quinta da Pellada Casa 2017

Parker über: Quinta da Pellada Casa

-- Parker: The 2017 Casa Quinta da Pellada, a very specific plot in Pellada as described in the 2013 tasting note, was aged for 18 months in well-used French oak (five to seven years old) and comes in at 13.2% alcohol. The field blend from old vines is principally Alfrocheiro, Touriga Nacional and Baga. This represents the quinta's oldest vines, and there are close to 50 different grapes in the field blend (the best estimate is 47). The single-block Casa is, unfortunately, only noted as such on the back label, which is rather confusing when there are actually two this year (the other being the Alto). The front label just looks like the regular Pellada blend of vineyard blocks. (If the specific blocks are made, the blend may not be, and there is no blend of blocks this year.) Beautifully structured, concentrated and showing off hints of the flavor and expressiveness this will one day have, this perfectly balanced red is gorgeous. Its refinement does not belie its power or its depth. It looks like a beauty, if way too young and too unevolved. As between this and the Alto, this seems superior, a more complete wine with more upside potential. This was bottled late, about three weeks before this tasting. It does have some things to prove in the cellar, but I'm leaning up on this just now. 96/100