Thoroughly impressed by this quartet of reds, a major step up from when I last tried some of the winery’s wines in this video. None is in the UK so far (as far as I know), but see the end for some companies that should be able to help you source them.

Quinta Nova de Nossa Senhora do Carmo Douro Reserva 2011 (~£25)
Vigorous young wine, intense and ripe with plush, plump almost kirsch-like blackcurrant, berry and plum flavours infused with herby notes. Yes, it’s oaky, but it’s very young, and the wood is in balance with the rest if the wine, like a herb-infused Argie Malbec with a dollop of Bordeaux Cabernet. S

Quinta Nova de Nossa Senhora do Carmo Douro Reserva Classico 2011 (~£50)
Seems simpler than the Reserva to begin, with pronounced wood influence – raw, and spirity, something a find in young, modern Rioja, with a coconutty edge too. But then the wine starts to unwind, and as it opens up, you get voluptuous waves of dark fruit flavour with a warm-country herb influence and, despite the power, no lack of freshness nor elegance. Really classy wine. S+

Quinta Nova de Nossa Senhora do Carmo Douro Referencia Grande Reserva 2011 (~£50)
Not sure about this one. It doesn’t seem to have quite as much freshness to balance the intense fruit as in the previous two, and alongside the slightly raw wood tannins, there’s also a little barnyard-y brett character intruding. As it opens up, the classy dark fruit does come through, along with more of that exotic kirsch character, but this on present form is good rather than great. S

Quinta Nova de Nossa Senhora do Carmo Douro Mirabilis Grande Reserva 2011 (~£70)
(no reference to this wine on the winery web site…)
Magnificent wine, intense, fresh and perfumed, combining the herby warmth of the Douro with aromatic fruit and vitality. The smoky wood note is there but it’s all in perfect balance, allowing the rip but never jammy blackcurrant and blackberry flesh to show through. Concentrated but vibrant, voluptuous but well corseted, this is delicious. G

Oakley Wine Agencies imports some of the winery’s wines to the UK

www.winefromportugal.com has earlier vintages of all these wines