I'm a big fan of Dirk's whites. 2002 is considered to be a bad year in the Douro, but some growers really did pick certain vineyards before the rains that plagued this harvest. That's the case for
this wine, which comes from 60-120-year old vineyards at high altitude. The wine is barrel-fermented and aged in barrique for 12 months. There's a little bit of wood on the nose with lovely minerality: fresh and appealing with a slightly smoky, spicy edge. The palate is intense, savoury, minerally and spicy with good acidity. Very fresh and potentially long lived: I'd guess that this will be brilliant in a decade's time. It's already hard to resist.
93/100 points (= good/excellent)
[af]
