Quinta do Crasto

27th July, Monday. We arrived to Quinta do Crasto really late, it was about 11pm. The Quinta is situated in Gouvinhas, on the left margin of the river Douro.

There was no time, and no light, to show us the premises, so the visit began with a tasting from the last Vintages of the house. We tasted Crasto 2008, Crasto Old Vines 2007, Quinta do Crasto Maria Teresa 2007, Quinta do Crasto Vinha da Ponte 2007, Crasto LBV 2005 and Quinta do Crasto Vintage. Although there's an enormous history, related to wine production in this place, but it was only in the nineties that they started to bottle ans sell wine. Since the beginning, this house became one of the most famous houses of still wines in the Douro and in Portugal. Recent prizes from Wine Spectator top 100 and high ratings from all over the world's wine magazines, brought Quinta do Crasto to the lights of fame. Here, everything is done with only one concern. Quality.

The Wines:

Quinta do Crasto's "Crasto" 2008

This is the new vintage from the entry level wine from this producer. It is about to be released. This wine showed really well. Sweet fruit on the nose, floral notes and some orange. Fresh and with some concentration. Mouth full of flavor, silky, round and fruity.

Quinta do Crasto Reserva "Vinhas Velhas" 2007

This is one of the best QPR wine you can get. Recently, the 2005 vintage, was in the 3th place on Wine Spectator's Top 100. Imagine that no Portuguese still wine has ever been inside top 10.

A few months ago, in may, i tasted this wine and thought that it was more floral than usually do, since his profile usually gives us some coffee notes and some spicy. In this day the wine was coming to his normal profile. The wine showed dark fruit, coffee, spicy, smoke and some floral. Although the notes tend to be hot, this wine showed lots of freshness.Really savory, full bodied, with great tannins and acidity. Long finish.

This is a wine that needs to be decanted, to open a little bit. Also needs time in the cellar as it will improve a lot. Great stuff.

Quinta do Crasto Vinha da Ponte 2007

Still a baby, but it shows a little how big will be. Very young, profound, great concentration and depth. Fruit, Flowers, some barrel notes are still on the loose but nothing hurts this harmonious wine. Full of structure, the tannins still edgy but from great quality. Long, long finish. Impressive Stuff. The promise of greatness is evident in this aristocratic wine. It will be great and I confess that I was really overwhelmed with this wine.

Quinta do Crasto Vinha Maria Teresa 2007

This is the other top wine from Quinta do Crasto. As Vinha da Ponte, this wine comes from a single vineyard, that gave the name to the wine. Old vines, field blended with more than 30 indigenous grapes.

It reminded me the 2005 vintage, but with more freshness. Sweet perfume with flowers, wild berrys, sweet ald lusciuos fruit. The mouth is all about flavour, actually you can taste in the mouth, all you've sensed in the nose. Impressive, the flavour of this wine. Kinda feminine profile attached to this wine. Sexy, velvet and lust. Impossible not to love this wine.

More Info on this Producer here