QUINTA DO ESPÍRITO SANTO | Vinho Regional Lisboa | Rouge | 2017
tempranillo | castelão

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Today we are also going to review a wine blend from the Portugal‘s famous Lisboa region – Quinta do Espírito Santo Rouge 2017 by Casa Santos Lima. This wine is a blend between two local varieties: tempranillo (known as tinta roriz and aragonês in Portugal) and castelão, where tempranillo forms the main body and structure of the wine, while castelão adds up-front richness and rounds up the final blend. This particular wine is made from grapes that were sourced from the whole Lisbon region, and it has been aged in portuguese and american oak barrels for 3 and 4 months respectively, in order to add some spiciness and complexity to the blend and, at the same time, to preserve the purity of the varietal characteristics of the two grapes. That said and without further ado, let’s take a look at the wine tasting results.
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Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:

//Visual
colour: very deep & opaque ruby
clarity: hazy purple hues at the rim

//Olfactory
intensity: powerful & delicate
fruit profile: red fruits | black fruits
__red fruits: sour cherry | red currant | red plum
__black fruits: black plum | blackberry
fruit character: ripe & overripe

//Flavor
non fruit: vegetal | spice | oak | savory | earthy
__vegetal: wormwood | cherry tomato
__spice: red pepper | thyme
__oak: cherry tree wood
__savory: horse saddle | barnyard | musk | leather | venison | veal & iron
__earthy: sweet potato | soil dust | compost
primary layer: savory

//Palate
sweetness: dry
acidity: high
alcohol: med(+)
tannin: medium
__grip: fine
balance: fair
__dominant: acidity
body: supple & round | medium

//Taste
fruit profile: red fruits & black fruits
fruit character: ripe
non fruit: spice & oak
finish: medium+
aftertaste: tart

//Scoring
CASA SANTOS LIMA | Quinta Do Espírito Santo | Rouge | 2017
variety: tempranillo | castelão
country: Portugal
region: Lisboa
rating: 90.9

//Conclusion
maturity: developing | age for 2-3 years
verdict: nice | quite good wine
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This is definitely a nice wine of Portugal and, with a total of 90.9 points scored, this wine is right there, among the best wines we’ve rated so far. Check our complete database on the wine rating page, where you can find all the wines that we have tasted and reviewed or go to the about us page and find out more about our exquisite rating system.

Verdict: this is a quite nice and appealing wine blend that has yet to reach the peak of its form – a wine that can age for another 2 or 3 years in the bottle. It tastes tart and slightly acrid, mostly due to the overwhelming acidity, with fine-grained tannins and a touch of alcoholic warmth on the mouthfeel. The wine also has a slightly seedy aftertaste, that coupled with its fruity-savory accent, makes it feel supple and lean. On the nose the wine delivers a very nuanced irony, meaty and savory foreground, supported by ripe red and black fruits in the background. All in all this is a plump, crisp and green wine blend with a delicate rustic accent – a wine that in its current state feels a bit off the balance, as it definitely lacks some harmony and finesse on the palace.

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