The 2007 “MR PREMIUM” is a blend of Syrah (30%), Alicante Bouschet (60%) and Petit Verdot (10%) aged for 12 months in French oak. This adds a fair bit of oak and a lot of power to the lower level bottlings. It also seems sweet, due to the oak, but tightly wound on opening, with a brooding and earthy demeanor, plus a trace of funk on the nose and some herbaceousness underlying its initial presentation. That changes its presentation dramatically from the flavor and aromatic profiles the other wines here have. This will certainly age better than the lower end examples, and it will separate itself a bit as time goes on, but I’m not sure it will ever be as charming or develop enough to merit the anticipated price spike over the lower level wines, or that I’ll ever like it as much in 5 years as I like the lower level wines now. All that said, it did grow on me with some time, showing much better as it aired out over 90 minutes. There were 3,569 bottles produced, plus some large format bottles. Drink now-2018. Ravasqueira is an estate long associated with horse racing and breeding. The wine is more recent, the first vintage having been produced in 2001, and is handled by winemakers Rui Reguinga and Carlos Rodrigues. Total production is about 200,000 bottles. In this group of “first look” releases, the winery has provided some pretty good values with their lesser wines, but struggles, I think, to justify the price gap between the big boys and the value entrants. While the big boys may be technically better and the various levels may separate themselves with age, as the lower level wines just don’t have the same structure, I’m not sure they ever will be as charming or win as many fans as the lower priced wines. Just drink the under $20 wines young and fresh, for best results.Importer: Artisan Vines Distributing, Atlanta, GA; tel: (404) 688-0232
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