Herdade Do Esporão Alentejo Alicante Bouschet 2015 (750ml) *
Product price
$61.99
Description
Alicante Bouschet is one of the few red grapes with red flesh, not just red skin, which gives its wines an unusually deep color and density. In the warm, dry Alentejo of southern Portugal, it takes on real muscle, and this 2015 bottling from Herdade do Esporão pushes that toward its serious end. Aged twelve months in new French oak and carrying 14.9% alcohol, it sits among the estate's late-released upper tier and shows the concentration that ambition implies.
The structure here is the story: firm and precise, with a backbone that means business but tannins that have softened enough to make the wine approachable now, a benefit of the late release. The oak is generous, and it will not be for everyone, but the fruit holds its ground through a long, expressive finish that still reads clearly as the grape. There is depth to grow into, and it should carry well over the next decade.
Expert Reviews
The 2015 Alicante Bouschet AB was aged for 12 months in new French oak and comes in at 14.9% alcohol. Of the winery's late-released upper-level wines, this is my favorite. It absorbs the wood the best—although this is a long way from a wine that handles its oak perfectly—and it shows brilliant structure, precision and a big finish that still can express the grape. There's a serious backbone, but the tannins are not hard and this drinks pretty well now, thanks to the late release. While oak-a-phobes will want to look away, this is impressive. It should hold for the next decade, maybe more. There were 556 cases produced. (Wine Advocate, May 2022)