The 2007 TINTO (QUINTA DO VESUVIO) is Touriga Nacional dominated (70%), with Touriga Franca (20%) and Tinta Amarela filling out most of the rest of the blend, aged for 10 months in new French oak barrels. The Tinto is the top level wine here, akin to a Bordeaux Estate just listing itself as Chateau Lafite, If there is one thing missing from the second wine, the Pombal reviewed this issue, it is the mid-palate concentration that this wine has. There are intense flavors, nuances of roasted plum and game. It became far more gripping and powerful with air, then rounded into form. In the mid-term, it became quite graceful in the mid-palate, which features sappy, youthful and sweet fruit. This is an impressive debut performance, the first release from this well know Quinta, although my enthusiasm was constrained a bit by its relatively poor performance with more extended aeration, when a pricey wine from a good vintage and a famous estate should shine. Still, as a debut, it is a very fine start. There were 1,000 cases produced. Drink 2010-2020. Importer: Premium Port Wines, San Francisco, CA, tel: (415) 554-9920.

The 2007 POMBAL DO VESUVIO (QUINTA DO VESUVIO) is a blend of Touriga Franca (60%), Touriga Nacional (30%) and Tinta Amarela, aged for 10 months in French oak. Beautifully structured, graceful and quite charming, this has come along beautifully in the few months since I first saw it at the winery, showing more depth and better structure. If it does not have a lot of mid-palate concentration, it has enough, and it is focused and precise, with grip and intensity on the finish. It has a backbone and the structure to hold gracefully in the cellar. There were 2,170 cases produced. Drink now-2017. Importer: Premium Port Wines, San Francisco, CA, tel: (415) 554-9920.

With its delicious juicy character, and blackberry jelly sweetness, this is a ripe wine, packed with fruit. It is sustained by a core of tannins and some herbal bitterness offering a good contrast to all the opulence and richness.——R.V.(12/15/2009)—— 94