Quinta de Pancas Grande Reserva Red 2013

The 2013 Grande Reserva (Quinta de Pancas) is a blend of 50% Touriga Nacional, 30% Alicante Bouschet and 20% Petit Verdot, aged for 20 months in new French oak. It comes in at 15% alcohol. This is pretty fine but whether you buy this or the regular Reserva will depend also on your stylistic preferences (and, of course, price sensitivity). The styles are radically different. This, too, has plenty of power, but the very concentrated and very ripe mid-palate gives this a different feel—more luscious, richer and not as hard-edged. The oak gives it more cream and a more one-dimensional demeanor at first, to be sure. Still, as I played with this and let it air out, it seemed increasingly impressive. The finish became tinged with some beefy nuances and the aromatics began to show something besides wood. It seems to handle its alcohol perfectly. This has some things to prove in the cellar. It really needs to be put away for another year or two in order to come together better but it looks potentially brilliant, if you like them big and sexy. - Mark Squires.