Serious wine seriously cheap.
A well-structured blend of 40% Tinta Roriz (also known as Tempranillo), 40% Touriga Franca, and 20% Touriga Nacional (again, all three are grape varieties commonly used in Port), it is somewhat reminiscent of a light and lively Bordeaux rouge blend with a floral and fruitspice edge.
There’s a little violet flower flirting in the aroma, some plump blueberry, and a streak of juicy tart black cherry blasting through it all. Although fruity, it’s not jammy, but rather tart and clean, and it avoids the oak-soup effect by maturing only 30% of the wine in 2nd year French and American oak barrels, the remainder in stainless steel. (And oh how lovely it is to taste a red wine where oak is used as an enhancement rather than a vanilla milkshake!)