Douro Meandro Tinto 2016

QUINTA DO VALE MEÃO

Douro Meandro Tinto
2016

Country
Portugal
Regulated designation
Denominação de origem controlada (DOC)
Region
Douro
Appellation
Douro
Varietal(s)
Touriga Nacional 35 %
Touriga Franca 34 %
Tinta Roriz 20 %
Tinta barroca 6 %
Colour
Red
Sugar
Dry
Sugar content
1,4 g/l g/l
Producer's website

About this winery

While Quinta do Vale Meão only began bottling under its own label in 1999, the estate has an incredible history. Vale Meão was one of the shrewd acquisitions of the celebrated Douro landowner Dona Antónia Adelaide Ferreira. In 1877 she purchased 270 hectares of land near Vila Nova de Foz Côa in the Upper Douro, and over the course of the next decade established a model winery, planting all the vineyards from scratch. The Quinta remained in the family and is owned today by Francisco Javier...

See the QUINTA DO VALE MEÃO detail page for more information on this brand

Press reviews

 Wine Enthusiast

- 93 points -

March 2021 (Vintage 2018)

This wine is named after the majestic oxbow bend taken by the Douro river around the
Meão estate. It is richly structured and with no concessions to immediate softness.
It needs to age to bring its black fruits into full harmony with the structure. Wait to
drink until 2023. Deutsch Family Wine and Spirits

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Wine Spectator

- 92 points -

April 2021 (Vintage 2018)

Nicely textured, with smooth tannins, this elegant, full-bodied red is packed with dark cherry, violet, red plum and anise notes that are harmonious and well-integrated. Details of mocha, wild herb and spice cascade onto the finish. Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca and Alicante Bouschet. Drink now through 2028.

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Wine Advocate

- 90 points -

Mark Squires, December 2020 (Vintage 2018)

The 2018 Meandro do Vale Meão is a blend of 45% Touriga Nacional, 30% Touriga Franca, 20% Tinta Roriz and dollops of Tinta Barroca and Alicante Bouschet for the rest, all aged for 14 months in used French oak. It comes in at 14.1% alcohol. This is often a can't-miss bargain in Douro, and that seems true again this year. Textured with velvet, concentrated and able to coat the palate, it does everything well. It is not a star in terms of structure—the tannins are ripe and you can drink it now—but everything else works great. It should still hold well for the rest of the decade, more or less. It did thin a bit with extended aeration, but nothing went seriously awry. As approachable as this is, allowing this to have at least six more months in the bottle would allow it to develop more. At the price point, there can't be much to complain about.

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