TN: 1995 Caves São João Quinta do Poço do Lobo - Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva (Portugal, Beiras, Vinho Regional Beiras)

WINE TALK
#1

1995 Caves São João Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva Quinta do Poço do Lobo - Portugal, Beiras, Vinho Regional Beiras (5/19/2022)
– decanted 30 min. before initial taste –
– tasted non-blind over 3 hours –

NOSE: reserved at first, but things really got going after about one hour; some tertiary elements, but still plenty of aged dark fruits; notes of cracker, leather (not brett), mint, and scorched character.

BODY: violet-mahogany color of great depth some coarse-grained sediment present; medium-full bodied.

TASTE: pleasantly tertiary — more tertiary than primary; still tannic; medium acidity; nutty (tawny); 13.5% alc. not noticeable; crushed stones mineral note; certainly seems ripe, if not a bit scorched; Drink Now. I wouldn’t call this “old” at this point, but neither is it young, closed, or tight. This is quite pleasant, and in its prime window, for my preferences. The tasting experience is like a piece of fine-grained hardwood, burnished to a high shine — elegant, with depth, and some complexity. Despite this praise, I did find it a touch too scorched, and a bit too rough-n-tumble to get into the most upper ranges of scores; nonetheless, this is excellent, and – given the bottle age – recently purchasing it for $60 feels like robbery.

50, 5, 13, 17, 8 = (93 pts.)

#2

Great notes, Brian! I remember that mahogany hue, and burnished hardwood is vivid description of these wines.

#3

Thanks, John. I wish their Arinto hadn’t disappeared from the CA market — that wine is particularly interesting and special.

#4

Thanks for the note. About how long do you think these bottles have? Sitting on 4 of them, hoping they make it a couple of years at least…

#5

If you have 4 bottles, I strongly recommend opening one of them right yesterday and decide for yourself. There is absolutely no reason for you to continue sitting on all 4.

if I had four more bottles, and they were all at offsite, I’d probably grab 2 of them on my next visit.

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#6

Imagine paying 16 euros for the 1990 like I did and getting essentially the same outcome. Bafflingly good value.

I was able to recently add a single bottle of the 1996 to my cellar for $40 CAD. Excited to try!

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