The 2014 CV (Curriculum Vitae) (Quinta Vale D. Maria) is a field blend sourced from 85-year-old vines. It was aged for 22 months in a 75/25 mixture of new and used French barriques and comes in at 13.5% alcohol. A bit light and restrained for CV--it seems thinner as you hold it in the mouth than on first taste--this just doesn't seem to have the stuffing and big flavor that it normally does. That's not to say it's bad but that it is a bit atypical. This is often my favorite of Van Zeller's offerings, but this year is not likely to be its finest moment. The structure is good, although the wine will be approachable early. It is beautifully focused, precise and tight on the finish. Give it a little more time--although retasting it the next day didn't help the fruit evolve. If anything, it seemed less interesting, the flavors muted and rather dull. My relative disappointment may be colored by just not seeing what I usually adore in this bottling, but in this vintage the regular Vale d. Maria bottling seems better, while this seems relatively weak in the overall lineup. There were 6,945 bottles produced, together with some large format bottles.
(WA 1st Mar 2017)
