Antonio Bernardino Colares Chitas Tinto

If the white Colares can age with extraordinary grace over time, the reds of the region are the wine equivalent of Dorian Gray's portrait. Untouched by the passage of time, Colares reds are Portugal's most distinctive "quiet" wines. Made from the Ramisco variety, planted on the region's characteristic sandy soils, they are light in colour, medium-bodied, low in alcohol but with acidity and tannins that need time to tame. If 1996, a wine approaching 30 years old, seems old to you, these wines can easily go beyond fifty or more years. The 1996 itself shows no signs of fatigue but only a wonderful evolution. One could put it next to the way the best classic Barolo's age, or the wonderful Chinon of the Loire. It is remarkably youthful for its age, with a characteristically thin and ethereal palate accompanied by notes of dried fruit, cocoa and raisins and an impressively long finish. Gripping from start to finish. The shrinking vineyard means that Colares are simply tasted, but continue your dinner with one of the other beautiful Portuguese wines in our collection. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)