Quinta do Crasto: Releases from Portugal's Douro Valley

I fell in love with the dry table wines of the Douro in the early aughts, just as I was getting into the wine business. On my first trip to Portugal, I visited the Douro and was lucky enough to visit Quinta do Crasto, whose single vineyard wines I thoroughly admired. If my memory serves me correctly, the Vinha do Ponte and Vinha Santa Teresa wines cost only about $60-70 a bottle at the time. Today they go for over $200 - if you can find them. 

Here is a selection of more accessibly-priced wines - all from local grapes, including a lovely dry white that offers tremendous value. 

Reds
93
Quinta do Crasto 2016 Reserva Vinhos Velhas Douro DOC 14.5% $45
Hailing from mixed varietal plantings averaging 70 years old, this cuvée is aged 18 months in French and American oak then bottled unfiltered. 

Deep mulberry and almost opaque at the core, this wine is rich and concentrated with forest berry fruit, hints of dried lavender, oodles of exotic spice and a whiff of balsamic. Slate nuances ricochet throughout, from sniff to dry, lingering finish. It is impressively bold yet shows smooth, thick tannins contrasted by good acidic lift. Highly drinkable now, this will age with grace for a good while.
Drink: 2021-28 

92
Quinta do Crasto 2016 Touriga Nacional Douro DOC 13.5% $78
Inky dark in color with a laser-like focus on the nose, this wine has exuberant purity, lightly flamboyant oak and a pleasantly gritty palate. While best to leave this hibernating in the bottle for now, its extravagant side - lush black currant, sloe, cassis - will be appreciated by those that prefer a more in-your-face wine now. The lingering finish and minerally back palate are vaguely gritty in texture. Loaded with lavender and barbecue spice, this wine is decidedly exotic. Medium-plus in body with solid acidic tension, this has many years ahead, assuming it eventually settles down a bit.
Drink: 2024-28

91
Quinta do Crasto 2016 Crasto Superior Douro DOC 13.5% $29
This is a blend of 50% Touriga Nacional, 25% Touriga Franca, 20% Tinta Roriz and 5% Sousâo. 

Dark and brooding in color with a black core, this wine smells as intimidating and as bold in fruit as it looks. The palate is robust and bursting with black plum and licorice scented with classy new oak (cocoa dust). It all melds into a blueberry-ganache finish. Full-bodied, succulent and pure, this well-balanced wine is ready to drink but will hold several years, thanks especially to its pleasantly bitter tannins.
Drink: 2021-23 

White
88
Crasto 2018 Douro DOC 12% $20
Firstly, I thoroughly agree with the back label suggestion that this wine be served between 46-50° F. Colder temperatures crush the aromatics of this dynamic white. Moreover, the pleasantly bitter citrus characters of the wine become harsh. This is a blend of 40% Viosinho, 30% Gouveio and 30% Rabigato. Just 15% is fermented and aged in used French oak with lees stirring while the rest sees exclusively stainless steel. 

Served at the proper temperature, this wine is charismatic in its aromas of pomelo, yellow grapefruit, uncooked oatmeal and fern frond. There's a wild array of aromas! The palate is generous with a hint of glycerol on the attack, but it quickly tightens with focused acidity and a whisper of tannins. On the palate, there is also a savory-soapy note akin to marjoram. The yeasty, minerally finish gives this wine a broad pairing range. Moreover, the high acidity with solid concentration gives this brisk white the potential to evolve well in bottle for at least several years.
Drink: 2021-24