Wine & Soul Vinho Tinto Pintas 2016

The 2016 Pintas is a field blend from old vines aged for 20 months in 30% new French oak. It comes in at 14% alcohol. Not quite bottled when seen, this was out of cask and the final blend. Aggressive in its youth, this also seems wonderfully fresh, with enticing and lifted fruit, plus a big, lingering finish filled with flavor. Very tight, this is going to need a couple of years to come around—and much longer to acquire complexity—but the tannins are not overly hard.

It will still be approachable fairly young. This is another super Pintas, a great follow-up to the 2015. Better? Maybe, although this is a little hard to read. We'll see as they both settle in over the next few years.