TN: 2005 Quinta do Vale Meão Douro Meandro (Portugal, Douro)

WINE TALK
1
  • 2005 Quinta do Vale Meão Douro Meandro - Portugal, Douro (12/21/2009)
    Cracked this last night as well and there was enough left for a couple of glasses tonight. A nice medium bodied stuffed with lots of tannins and graphite which is balanced by dark red fruit. I like the way this drinks right now, but I fear the tannins will overtake the fruit as it subsides with age and throw it out of balance. In its defense, this is the little brother of the regular Vale Meao and meant to be more of a early to mid term drinker. And with that in mind, this fulfills that role perfectly.
    88 points. (88 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

2

Thanks for the note Andy. I thought the Meandro was promising two years ago and as you describe, bigger boned than expected for a “little brother”. The 05 Meao is huge in comparison (tasted last year) and needs several years to simmer down IMHO.

RT

3

Yes the regular Meao’s are big wines in the sense they will age very well in the long term. Even the 2006, which was a tough year in the Douro for dry wines, is a winner. If you ever get the chance to visit this Quinta, you’ll be amazed that anyone could have made the arduous task to this place almost 150 years ago, and then decided to grow grapes there. When I was there last year, it was still a long and difficult trek to the Quinta. I couldn’t even begin to image what it was like 150 year ago.

4
  • 2005 Quinta do Vale Meão Douro Meandro - Portugal, Douro (11/23/2010)
    – popped and poured –
    – tasted non-blind over 3 days –
    – 40% Tinta Roriz, 25% Touriga Nacional, 25% Touriga Franca, 5% Tinta Barroca, 5% Tinta Amarela –

NOSE: Day 1: limestone; black dirt; musky dark purple fruits – reminds me of a young Napa Cab.; hint of black cherry; not complex. Day 3: sweet black licorice; wet prunes; limestone; black dirt.

BODY: fine particulate matter suspended throughout; medium-light to medium bodied; blood red color of great depth.

TASTE: Day 1: oak; a bit stewed; ample embedded minerality; bitter red berries; drying tannins; long finish; touch of heat in the belly; the oak is sweet, and is a bit over-the-top for me; 14% alc. can be tasted a little. Day 3: oaky; dark fruit leather; fruit flavors are less muddled than on Day 1; decent acid; not much tannin; long finish is dominated by French oak; tannins kicked-in a little bit near the end of the bottle; better than Day 1.

Day 1: B: 50, 5, 11, 14, 6 = 86
Day 3: B: 50, 5, 11, 15, 6 = 87 (87 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

5

Meandro is always a pleasant wine, rarely profound or packing the punch of the regular bottling of Meão. This is the property that was originally owned by Dona Antonia Adelaide Ferreira, who owned 20-30 quintas including Vargellas, Vesuvio and so many more. It was also the place that some of the grapes were grown that went into Ferreira’s Barca Velha from 1952/3 up through the late 1990’s when Meão started producing their own wines and stopped selling to Ferreira. By the way, the aforementioned grand dame D.A.A.F. was the great great grandmother of the current owner, Francisco Olazabal who at one time was the CEO of Ferreira.

I prefer the 2004 of all versions of the Meandro but the 2007 is pretty darn good too.