When Filipa Pato had a barrel of Touriga Nacional going, the enterprising chaps at Bottle Apostle snapped it up and put in on their shelves as a special bottling. Always a sucker, for a one-off, I picked one up, aware that the wine was really meant as a part of a blend that just didn’t get used. The question begs - why not?
This is quite a moody, brooding wine on the nose with over-ripe blackberries, milk chocolate, liquorice, nutmeg and green peppercorns. There’s a sense of black forest gateaux and quite a thick slab of oak if I’m honest. There’s also a little cool mint and floral sweetness around the edges though. The palate starts with some nice acidity, with thick blackberry fruit and a serious, but not overwhelming seam of tannin. It’s quite abrupt and without the elegance that I’ve come to expect from modern Portugal, and I find the oak a bit obvious. But then again, what do you expect? It’s an interesting drop but it does feel like one piece of a puzzle.
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