2020 Pocas Reserva Douro Valley 750 ml

The Douro Valley is port country—or at least that's what everybody thought 33 years ago.

But winemaker Jorge Manuel Pintão, scion of the port house Poças, knew better. His master’s degree in enology, earned in Bordeaux, and his time at Third Growth Château Giscours told him everything he needed to know. Using port varieties—especially Touriga Nacional, Portugal’s signature grape—he was positive he could craft world-class dry reds to rival the best in the world.

He had no idea how right he would be. Today, Touriga Nacional, which Wine Enthusiast has called “Portugal’s answer to Cabernet,” is now even authorized for use in Bordeaux, thanks in part to Douro wines like 2020 Poças Reserva.

Next time you’re hanging out with wine friends drinking Bordeaux or Napa Valley Cab, reach for this bottle. You’ll make instant converts. It’s a red that Wine Advocate called “Focused, precise and rather powerful, also perfectly balanced and built to age.”

The 2020 Poças Reserva comes from the winery’s estate vineyards: Quinta de Santa Bárbara in Ervedosa do Douro, in the Cima Corgo, and Quinta de Vale de Cavalos in Numão, in the Douro Superior, the driest and warmest part of the region. Summers pit each vine against its neighbor, locking them in a tense battle for nutrients. Yet at an altitude of 1,443–1,673 feet, the vineyards get enough cool air to keep the grapes’ acidity fresh. 

After harvesting the grapes by hand, the wine aged in French oak casks, polishing its tannins and stitching together its complex flavors. Now, it’s a refined, harmonious bottle that will age gracefully for at least another decade.