Herdade do Peso, Alentejo DOC (Portugal) “Parcelas, Vineyard Blocks 21 and 101” 2021 ($66, Evaton)

Yikes, this is terrific, and it only gets better with hours of aeration, suggesting that it could be cellared advantageously for a solid decade while also being immediately enjoyable. Alentejo is becoming ever-more renowned as a source for superb reds, and is in the process of stealing thunder from table wines made from Port varieties in the more famous Douro Valley. This is an utterly convincing case in point. It is a 50/50 blend of Alicante Bouchet and Petit Verdot sourced from vineyard plots 21 and 101, respectively, and it shows terrific depth of flavor along with modest wood and ultra-fine tannins that enable its finish to go on and on…and on. Physically dense an concentrated, it nevertheless dodges the bullet of attaining those characteristics at the cost of any harshness from over-extraction. It presents as a wine that might develop in positive ways for as many as another 15 years, but is already thoroughly enjoyable at six years of age. As the grape varieties make nearly obvious, black fruit notes predominate, yet this shows better acidity and lift than the majority of wines in this stylistic range.
95 Michael Franz