The 2012 Tinto Quinta Vale d. Maria, the estate flagship, is an old vines field blend, aged for 21 months in a mixture of new (65%) and used French oak barriques. What's not to like here? In this rather elegant vintage, it has that elegance typical of the brand, but it also shows reasonable concentration for the vintage and fine grip on the finish. It is actually quite intense. That finish lingers with flavorful, lovely fruit. It handles its oak well and rises above it with aeration. The texture has a certain silky note to it, as it is rather crisp and fresh. As with many 2012s, it doesn't impress for its mid-palate concentration, but it finds many other ways to impress. This may not be the biggest or best Vale d. Maria, but it has many merits on its own and it will be a pleasure to drink when it comes around. The longer I had it open, the more I liked it. Give it a few years for best results. It was still pretty tight when retasted the next day. It should acquire some complexity in time. Cristiano van Zeller has lots of labels these days, but let's not forget about the basics and the old standards. There were 19,116 bottles produced, plus some large format bottles.
(WA 2nd Jan 2015)
