Vinha Maria Teresa, Quinta do Crasto 2018

The 2018 Vinha Maria Teresa, a field blend from centenarian vines, was aged for 20 months in new oak (90% French, 10% American). It comes in at 14.7% alcohol. Gorgeous, precise, powerful and just a little sexy, too, this is another great Maria Teresa. The brand has built quite a track record of late. Showing fine fruit, some mid-palate finesse and waves of controlled flavor, this then adds some serious pop on the finish. The tannins are not overly astringent here, but there are plenty of them, so this is not close to being ready to drink. Plus, from experience, this is a bottling that will acquire far more finesse, complexity and balance if you cellar it. Peak moments will come closer to the end of this decade than now. Could you drink it now? Yes, because, again, those tannins are not too hard but even giving it a couple of years would help a lot. Will you have wasted at least some of this wine's potential if you dive in now? Definitely. This has hints of greatness today. It mingles elegance, flavor and structure, but it has yet to put it all together. It was certainly better the next day. So it would be best to come back around the end of this decade, not its beginning. I'm leaning up on this gorgeous red. There were 5,970 regular bottles produced, along with 250 magnums and 30 three-liter bottles. As with most of Crasto's 2018 reds, this will not be released until October 2021. Drink 2023 - 2050.