Casa de Santar Dao Tinto 2019

Enticing, with mouthwatering griotte and singed mesquite notes mixed with flashes of tobacco and red tea on the racy finish. Aragonês, Touriga Nacional and Alfrocheiro. Drink now through 2023. 50,000 cases made, 4,000 cases imported.

The 2019 Tinto (Casa de Santar) is a blend of 50% Tinta Roriz, 30% Touriga Nacional and 20% Alfrocheiro, aged for six months in a 50/50 blend of new and second use French oak. It comes in at 13.7% alcohol. Nicely done for this nice price, this is a little silky, still filled with flavorful fruit and very graceful. It has a bit of grip on the finish, but this exuberant youngster is built for now and the next couple of years more than for extended aging. It will hold, but that's not really the point. It's a perfect restaurant wine at the moment. It's a nice value today.

Based around fruit from an ancient aristocratic estate, the wine has a soft, rounded character with a core of firm tannins and balanced black-fruit flavors. With its ripe dark chocolate and spice flavors, the wine is ready to drink.