2017 Chryseia, Prats & Symington, Quinta de Roriz, Douro, Portugal

Perfumed kid glove and vanillin oak, with dried mint to the nose and attack suggesting an effusive palate; but the palate is emphatically structural. Aged in 400-litre oak barrels 80-90% new), tight-knit, textural tannins contain the brooding spicy blackcurrant and ripe, juicy cherry and berry core. Chiselled, with a sense of mineral, dry extract and firm under-pinning, this well-focused keeper may warrant a higher score in time, once the tannins integrate. Drinking Window 2022 - 2034.

The 2017 Chryseia is a 75/25 blend of Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca aged for 16 months in mostly 80%) new French oak. It comes in at 14.1% alcohol. From a big vintage, this shows intense fruit, but the calling card here will be its finesse and focus. It is a beautifully crafted wine. Very precise, this has a long and tight finish. The aromatic fruit is in need of some development, and this really needs cellaring for a couple of years. With aeration, it does become more expressive, but this is not ready, even though the tannins are not really hard. The fruit needs to develop more than the tannins need to moderate. This looks like a potentially great Chryseia, but it is not showing all it has today. It is certainly the most refined of the Symington/P&S wines this issue, with a very Old World feel to it, if you'll pardon the stereotype. It showed beautifully the next day as well. At that point, the fruit demonstrated how concentrated it really is. The only remaining question is how well it does in the cellar. I'm betting that it does well. Drinking 2022 – 2045.
95/100