Published by Jeremy.
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Touriga Nacional is one of those Portuguese grapes that needs a bit of time. In fact, we're so used to seeing this one in aged port over a still wine that the age often comes naturally.
So when we got lucky enough to find two bottles of UDACA Dao Touriga Nacional 2014 on clearance at a local wine shop, we grabbed both with one to enjoy now and one to age.
This is an important distinction, because at 10 years old this one was only starting to show its potential!
Let UADACA Dao's Touriga Nacional Sleep for Years
This 10-year Touriga Nacional was deep ruby in color with medium aromas of red cherry, dried red cherry, cranberry, blueberry, blackberry, vanilla, clove, tar, smoke, chocolate, wet leaves, and tobacco.
On the palate it was dry with medium(+) acidity, smooth tannin, and flavor intensity, high alcohol, medium body, and a long finish. It had flavors of red cherry, cranberry, pomegranate, clove, cedar, leather, tobacco, blueberry, vanilla, and wet leaves.
This bottle of wine was quite interesting because despite its noticeable age characteristics, it still drank like a very young wine. The color, strong fruit flavors, and prominent (albeit quite smooth) tannins really suggest this bottle could age for quite some time. For those who like more conventional grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon, this one would be right up your alley- albeit decant it for a few hours for the best experience, too!
Touriga Nacional Food Pairing – Lamb Pasta
We paired this tannin-forward and rich Touriga Nacional with a lamb pasta in tomato sauce. We admit we cheated a bit in cooking this one as we had leftover lamb kebab from a local Uzbek restaurant that we simply added to tomato sauce and mixed with pasta (which was truly incredible with the cumin and other flavors).
The richness of the lamb cut out all the prominent tannins and really elevated the earthy notes of the wine in addition to some prominent red fruit characteristics like red cherry and cranberry.
Score: 3.5 / 5
We'd buy a glass of this one and a bottle in the right scenario.
Overall, this is was a pretty delicious bottle of Touriga Nacional, but even with 10 years of age, this one needed some time to breathe and open up and, if we're honest, could probably use another 5-10+ years in bottle to really be interesting. Thankfully, we found a second bottle on clearance that we're hiding away in our cellar for a revisit in another decade or more. So while we'd happily have a glass of this one, we have to admit the bottle does need some age all the same.
UDACA is located at R. do Dão A41, 3500-322 in Viseu, Portugal. We purchased this bottle locally and enjoyed it in 2024.
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