Touriga Franca, Quinta do Crasto 2018

The 2018 Touriga Franca is the third release of Crasto's new monovarietal. It was aged for 18 months in 90% new French oak and comes in at 14.7% alcohol. Increasingly, Crasto gives evidence that it is getting this monovarietal just right. Granting that both are not here together, this seems to be at least the equal of the fine 2017 and perhaps its superior. Showing gorgeous mid-palate finesse, ripe tannins (for which Crasto is known) and the essence of the grape, this is beautiful. True, the oak is a touch prominent just now. That will get better with a couple of years in the cellar, even if it is very approachable now. Even now, the oak is not terribly intrusive. If I had a quibble, I wouldn't object to a bit more energy and backbone, but it is surprisingly persistent. The wine has yet another answer ready for me: More firmness on the finish appears with aeration. This should easily age at least 15 years from the vintage date, probably more. This was probably the least convincing (and least personable) of Crasto's monovarietals, whether due to the grape or vinification, and yet it is still very fine. Plus, it has the opportunity to improve more in the cellar. That makes this a very impressive set of performances from Crasto. There were 7,239 regular bottles produced, plus some in other formats. Drink 2021 - 2036.