The 2016 CV (Curriculum Vitae) is a field blend from 80-year-old vines aged for 21 months in 85% new French oak. It comes in at 14.7% alcohol. This was a tank sample when last seen. This is a better-balanced wine than the 2015 CV, which is pretty much a fruit bomb, although I grant you that the fruit bomb was really hard to resist and often sensational. This 2016 is fresher and more elegant, though, while seeming cooler. It still has plenty of gorgeous Douro fruit along with that brilliant structure. It is delicious. It also seems tightly wound and perfectly focused. The oak is still a bit too obvious, perhaps it’s only remaining flaw. That can still improve, and I’ll lean up on that likelihood, but it seems great no matter what. This tightly wound wine was harder to read as a tank sample, but I certainly underestimated it. As hedonistic as the 2015 is, this is better on almost all fronts now. It is one of the best reds I’ve had from Van Zeller.

Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RP

---

A wine that has been trodden by foot and fermented in open stone lagars, this is richly impressive. Its tannic core brings out the minerality of the Douro while keeping power and intensity. Black fruits and acidity give a fine contrast. Drink this powerful wine from 2021.

Wine Enthusiast | 93 WE

---