Herdade Do Esporão Alentejo Touriga Nacional 2021 (750ml) *
Product price
Description
Touriga Nacional is Portugal's calling card, a grape prized for structure and dark fruit, and here it comes from the warm Alentejo in the country's south. This bottling from Esporão draws on certified-organic fruit off older trellised vines planted in 1988, foot-trodden in marble lagar in the traditional way and raised in new French oak. It is a still red from the 2021 vintage, ripe and full at 14.5% alcohol, carrying the concentration that Alentejo heat tends to produce.
Expect a wine that leads with ripeness rather than perfume, the nose more warming and oak-inflected than floral. The palate is dense and grippy, with tannins that still show some astringency and youthful edge. This is a red built to settle down with time in the cellar, where the structure should soften and the fruit come forward.
Product Details
| Category | Wine |
| Country | Portugal |
| Region | Alentejo Region |
| Subregion | Alentejano IG |
| Producer | Esporao |
| Vintage | 2021 |
| Size | 750 ML |
| Subtype | Still |
Expert Reviews
The 2021 Touriga Nacional was produced with certified-organic grapes from one of the oldest vineyards of the variety in Alentejo—the Vinha do Badeco, which was planted in 1988, with 1.03 hectares of trellised vines. It was foot trodden in marble lagar and matured in new French oak barrels. It has high ripeness and 14.5% alcohol. I was expecting something more aromatic, but perhaps the high ripeness provided a more spirity nose, with faint volatility and generous oak. The palate reveals plenty of tannins, coming through as a little astringent still. Wait. 6,500 bottles produced. It was bottled in August 2023. (Wine Advocate, May 2025)