Wine & Soul Pintas Character 2019

2019 Pintas 'Character' 92WA
Wine & Soul
Douro Valley, Portugal

$36.99

- Terroir within Pintas of younger 50-70 years-old vines
- Field blend of mostly the BIG THREE red grapes of Portugal:
       - Touriga Nacional (Portugal's Cabernet Sauvignon)
       - Touriga Franca (Portugal's Cabernet Franc)
       - Tinta Roriz (actually Tempranillo)
- 18 months in 80% used new French oak (20% new)
- In my mind "Character" is reminiscent of a love child from the obverse Loire Valley and Bordeaux Cabernet Franc, but maybe a little more Loire in this cooler year.

92 pts Robert Parker Wine Advocate
The 2019 Pintas Character is a field blend (over 30 grapes, but the majority are Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz and Touriga Nacional) from old vines aged for 18 months in 90% used French oak. It comes in at 14.6% alcohol. As always, the Pintas Character is not quite as powerful or as concentrated as its big brother, Pintas, but this easygoing red has more going on than seems apparent on first pour. Coming back to this after half an hour helped a lot. At that point, it showed off its structure. It features ripe tannins but a firm finish. Then, the fruit also evolved, becoming very expressive. Both approachable and serious, this year's version of Character should age pretty well. It is drinking decently now, but it can still improve over the next few years. It does need to demonstrate it can do that, but it's so appealing today that it's worth leaning up for the moment.