Luis Pato Quinta do Moinho Tinto 1999 Magnum

Vineyard / Pan and Barrosa are two different soil-based single vineyard expressions of Baga-the former relatively feminine, the latter more Bordeaux-masculine. Both age wonderfully ... Pan is from youthful 20 y.o. chalky, clay soils.
Wine exclusively produced from Baga grapes with green harvest at the beginning of August. Fermented for 2 weeks in stainless steel vats under temperature control.
Aged for 12 months in new and used Allier oak casks.
Dark purple in colour, with a royal purple fringe. Red currents, light game, pepper, and spice, minerally and earthy. In the mouth the wine is very refined, but
powerful. Great balance and structure, you can see the potential for this to age, but it’s great drinking now. On the palate it’s full of mulberry, mocha coffee, with a slight raisin character. The lighter wine of the two but different and exotic.

To be dished up with gamey meats, and when exceeds 10 years of age, with a good sheep cured cheese.

“Greyish garnet with soft rim. Complex developed aromas of undergrowth and leather and a bit bloody too but there is still some of Baga’s sweet red fruit aroma showing and almost something in the floral spectrum – maybe tobacco. More bloody with air. On the palate, real energy, and freshness – and small-berried red fruits - the tannins relatively compact but smoothed. Long and surprisingly rich, the richness balanced by the acidity. Knowing Luis Pato’s Baga wines, this will probably age a lot longer. On the second day, this wine actually seemed younger than when I first tasted it.”
- JH, JancisRobinson.com

“The 2000 Tinto Quinta do Moinho is one of the oldies this issue (in the Beiras regional appellation). This is mostly fresh, but it lacks the definition and focus of the recently seen (and completely brilliant) 2001. It compensates, though, with very fine concentration, giving this a very lush and rich feel for an older Baga. It fills the mouth. The 2000 and 2001 vintages often produce these differences--they both reflect their vintage styles. Still relatively youthful, this can hang on for at least another decade, maybe much more, but let&s take this in stages.
For this issue, Luis Pato provides a slew of older wines showing how well Baga ages--but we are also capping that off with the new vintages and even some barrel samples. I even got a look at the upcoming 2015s, which promises to be a very fine vintage, including a Pe Franco on chalky soil. The regular (sandy soil) and new bottling look to have tons of potential but stay tuned. I&m not publishing reviews on those yet as they are just a bit too far away and I&d like to see them again with more bottle time. As far as other old vines go, we also have some of Pato&s Vinha Barrosa from centenary vines. This is a Baga, although there may be some scattered white grapes in the field blend (around 1%, Pato said). It&s a rather good value point in the lineup-- high quality, a lot cheaper than Pe Franco.”
- MS, Wine Advocate