Ollos de Maia

Less fascinated than last August's bottle - still beautiful, just not quite the revelation it was at first opening. This time needs a chill and a serious decant to settle the natty edge; left to itself it pushes the funk register too forward. With air it opens into a floral-fruit perfumed core with a flicker of black pepper - but again, the wine isn't really about descriptors. Structure, balance, sheer quaffability. Same thesis as before, dialed down a notch.

Oh wow. Beautiful release. Plums soaked in graphite and mineral water, black pepper crackling through smoke. There's floral perfume trying to break through, but it's still too young to fully express itself. But listen - this isn't about descriptors. This is about insane balance, about how the juiciness and minerality become one thing, indivisible. Everything sits exactly where it should, even at this young age. The kind of wine that makes you forget to take notes because you're too busy drinking it. Refined, precise, dangerously drinkable.