Review: 2022 Mary Taylor Filipe Ferreira Douro Red Blend

Mary Taylor has fashioned a respectable career out of championing the smaller corners of Europe: growers hidden away, working with grapes rarely receiving top billing. Her project doesn’t place a premium on the usual suspects, but on finding producers whose wines carry the uniqueness of their home. Today’s return visit takes us to the Douro, a region I’ve been enjoying quite a bit lately, where Filipe Ferreira of Quinta da Foz once again presents a red blend worthy of some spotlight.

The blend reprises its composition from 2019: 60% Touriga Nacional, 25% Tinta Roriz, and 15% Touriga Franca, aged in steel and presenting a somewhat forthright 14% abv. What threatens to be a blunt-force wine instead presents layered, slow-building character: with aromas of cassis and black cherry, followed by graphite pencil, tobacco leaf, and black tea all steadily evolving. On the palate, the fruit core stays vivid, framed by subtle minerality. The dark berries, the faint earthy undertow and a touch of smoke all settle into a finish that displays length and harmony, holding together without losing the plot.

It’s already compelling, but patience will pay off, and I have a suspicion giving it time away will allow the wine’s finer details to surface. For now, though, it offers a persuasive preview of what a few years of rest will reveal.

B+ / $18

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