Herdade da Maroteira Cem Reis Reserva Syrah, Alentejano, Portugal

馬洛特拉莊園塞姆雷斯珍藏西拉紅葡萄酒

點(diǎn)擊次數(shù)：320

The 2019 Syrah Reserva Cem Reis (Herdade da Maroteira) was aged for 16 months in an equal mixture of French and American oak (50% new overall). It comes in at 15.6% alcohol. A big wine, this is also a wine with the focus and structure to match the fruit. The fruit is a bit submerged by the wood just now, but it still has some character, flavor and personality popping up. Overall, this is a wine that will show better with a couple of years in the cellar, even if it is vaguely approachable now. This has some promise, but be patient. Not imported, this runs around 50 euros in Portugal. There were 20,000 bottles produced.

The 2018 Syrah Reserva Cem Reis (Herdade da Maroteira) was aged for 16 months in an equal mixture of new French and American oak. It comes in at 15.8% alcohol. Tightly wound and solid in the mid-palate, this jammy Syrah compensates a bit for its flamboyance with its fine structure. Plus, the fruit is reasonably expressive, with some hints of that Syrah game, even if the fruit is often covered over by the new wood. This is not a subtle wine on any front. In other words, power, big fruit, lots of vanilla. It does the blockbuster style pretty well, though, and it has some room to improve in the cellar. For the moment, this seems to be one of the winery's 2018s that hangs well with some recent vintages. We'll be a bit conservative just now, though, until this demonstrates that it can hold its balance as it ages. It will certainly be a wine that makes a lot of folks go "wow" at tastings, though. Not imported, this runs around 50 euros in Portugal.

The 2017 Syrah Reserva Cem Reis (Herdade da Maroteira) was aged for 16 months in an equal mixture of new French and American oak. It comes in at a hefty 15.6% alcohol. The winery says it is aiming for "a more elegant, yet expressive profile. Trying to tune down the fruit punch toward a more 'adult' character." Yet the new oak has increased and the alcohol remains very high. Or, in other words, they don't seem to be trying too hard. That said, this is a lot of fun if you like the Big Boy/blockbuster style. It very much features sweet, slightly candied fruit and oak. It adds fine structure and an intensely flavorful finish. It's all about the blueberries on this very ripe Syrah—there's pretty much no beef, no complexity and no nuance. There is good structure and it tastes great, with a long finish. Some will like this more than others—some will love it and others very definitely will not. If you liked those old, stereotypical Barossa Shiraz, this is for you. In its flamboyant style, it's well done, but I'd rather drink the Dez Tost?es this issue, even if its structure is not as good. It will be interesting to see if this holds its balance as it ages. Certainly, it is at a level where it should be expected to age gracefully. This has an officially suggested retail price of around 28 euros, but I'm told it typically appears around 35 euros in Portuguese stores. It is not currently imported.

The 2016 Syrah Reserva Cem Reis (Herdade da Maroteira) was aged for 16 months in an equal mixture of French and American oak (50% new). It comes in at 15.9% alcohol—actually less than the 2015 fruit bomb. Anthony Doody says this has a more typical profile for the winery, with a little more freshness than the 2015. This is a very big boy too, with very ripe fruit, but the tannins are a bit more subdued and the acidity is actually high here. In fact, it is rather oddly tart. This may well improve, but it needs to pull itself together and integrate its components. If it can, of course. At the moment, it seems disjointed and conflicted, not quite able to determine what it wants to be or how to get there. This runs around 30 euros in Portugal. There were 10,000 bottles produced.

The 2015 Syrah Reserva Cem Reis (Herdade da Maroteira) comes in at 16.4% alcohol. It was aged for 16 months in a mixture of new French and American oak. This is a different wine than last year's version, on paper, more than a point higher in alcohol. On first taste, happily, I couldn't find any problem with alcohol, and it handled it well for all the time I had with it. The fruit is very ripe, of course, but nicely supported by some structure rather than simply jammy. There is some finesse in the mid-palate—it has surprising refinement, relatively speaking. Statistics aside, this seems to hold itself together well. It will be interesting to see whether it can continue to do so as it ages and the rich fruit fades, but it seems more than fine now. Let's be a little conservative for the moment and let it answer some questions in the cellar. This runs around 20 euros in Portugal, which makes it a lot of wine for a very modest price.