elegant and fragrantBoa-Vista Reserva Tinto
Terroir
Located at Cima-Corgo, the vineyards are spread over a dazzling geometric setting of terraces built by hand with the typical schist of the region. Some terraces reach eight metres in height and this, combined with extreme conditions and the dramatic slope come together to provide a unique terroir. The entire vineyard reserved for Port wine has a letter A benefit with (the best rating) and was planted with the traditional Douro grape varieties
Grapes
Touriga Nacional is a dark-skinned grape variety that is a key ingredient in both dry red wines and fortified wines (Port) with a wide presence in the Douro region. Displays bold dark-fruit flavors, commonly accompanied by hints of spice, violet and leather. Its firm tannins makes it relevant as a varietal wine.
Secondly, Touriga Franca is also one the traditional grape varieties from the Douro Region. More aromatic and lighter in body, it is slightly less concentrated and has higher yields than the flagship Portuguese variety. Touriga Franca is really high in tannins with an exquisite perfume of fresh, ripe red fruits, spices and flower.
Tinto Cão is a grape variety dating back to the region’s origins. Throughout the years, it has been proven that this variety is better suited to the region’s fronts with less sun exposure. The cooler climate allows the variety’s floral aromas to showcase. With lighter coloured wines, despite its dark skins, it has good levels of acidity and tannins.
These are all combined with a variety of old vines from Quinta da Boavista that come from its 10 hectares of vines with an average age over 80 years.
Vinification
All this leads to a very special wine with a bright red colour with good intensity. On the nose, with its really young aroma, the red fruit notes are noticeable, blending with floral memories – rock rose and iris – and spices – anise, fennel. It is fresh, complex with toasted notes. On the mouth, it is elegant and compact with long, aromatic finish.
Ideal with red meat, game or cheese dishes.
94
/100 Pts
Boa-vista Reserva 2013 is concentrated, rich and powerful, with notes of dried beef to the raspberry, cherry tart and roasted plum flavors, and mushroom and forest floor elements in the midpalate. The finish offers accents of dried mint.
93
/100 Pts
What this 2014 does better than (the monovarietals) is provide better balance. It retains the serious backbone and crisp edge, showing better mid-palate finesse, too. It also delivers a bit more fruit flavor and a longer finish. I am a little surprised and gratified at how well the 2014s here are showing, but they certainly seem poised to be great off-vintage wines. (…)
Plan on putting it away for a few years. It is a little hard to read, like all of the upper-level reds here, but on this one, let’s lean up for the moment.
92
/100 Pts
The 2015 Reserva Boa-Vista is a field blend from old vines (although, the winery hastens to add, not it’s oldest), aged in a mixture of new (two-thirds, and dropping) and used (one-third) French oak for 15 months. It comes in at 13.9% alcohol. This is a Reserva that is fresh and lifted, with fine grip on the finish and excellent structure. There’s a real backbone, but at the same time the tannins are not overly hard. This is beautiful, better than the 2014 in the long run but a bit unevolved just now. In the long run, this will show better flavor as its calling card and its biggest advantage over the 2014. The problem just now is that the fruit is a little hidden by wood. Overall, though, it is gorgeously balanced, with the mid-palate concentration matching the ripe tannins. It should be approachable now, but approachable does not mean ready—a year or three in the cellar would smooth this out, allow it to pull in some wood and add some complexity. This has a fairly long life ahead. It will overtake the 2014 one day, but that day is not necessarily today.
91
/100 Pts
The 2016 Reserva Boa-Vista is a field blend from old vines (although, the winery always hastens to add, not its oldest) aged in a mixture of new (two-thirds) and used (one-third) French oak for 15 months. It comes in at 13.9% alcohol. Laid-back and not showing a lot of depth, this does show tasty fruit, finesse and moderate tannic structure. It will always be a pleasure to drink, but I’m not sure it impresses quite as much as the price point this year. You can drink this right now, but it will be better in a year or two and hold for more than a decade after that. This is set for October release.