The 2010 Seleccion Especial is pure Touriga Nacional from 25-year-old vineyards on slate soils at 650 meters altitude, fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged for eight months in French oak barrels. It doesn’t have the exuberance of the best examples from Dao, but it has blue fruit aromas with shy hints of flowers, a lactic touch and traces of smoky bacon that make me think more of a Syrah than a Touriga. The palate is medium-bodied, with fine tannins as well as roasted and barrel-related flavors toward the end. You should let it rest in bottle for one more year before pulling the cork. Drink 2015-2018. La Setera is one of the few wineries I selected to taste from Arribes del Duero, a small, family-owned winery created in 2002, but with a long tradition as grape growers. The wines seem to be works in progress. No known American importer.

Remarkable dark bramble fruit and crushed leaves on nose. Lovely aromas but palate lacks length and depth.