This year's Decanter World Wine Awards Regional Trophy for Port over £15 went to Ramos Pinto, RP., Late Bottle Vintage 2009 (19.5%)
Tasted against:
- Fonseca, Terra Prima Reserve NV
- Fonseca, Unfiltered Late Bottled Vintage 2008
- Graham’s, Late Bottled Vintage 2009
Profile:
I have always been related to wine,’ says Ramos Pinto winemaker João Nicolau de Almeida. ‘My mother came from a wine family – Ramos Pinto – and my father, Nicolau de Almeida, was also from a Port family. I guess my cot was a barrel!’
De Almeida’s first vintage was in 1982, under the auspices of his uncle José Ramos Pinto, although the first vintage for which he was wholly responsible was 1991, and it’s been that way ever since. ‘We are trying to express our terroir,’ he says of his wines. ‘We make wines from our own grapes and this contributes significantly to obtaining a unique and specific taste. Trophies like this give us the motivation to continue pursuing these strategies.’
Ramos Pinto produces more than two million bottles of wine a year, of which the majority is Port. In 2009 it made 60,000 bottles of this Trophy winner.
‘2009 was a dry, healthy year with low yields and high grape concentration,’ says De Almeida. Some 70% of the grapes come from Ervamoira in the upper Douro, with the rest from Ramos Pinto’s quinta in Bom Retiro in High Corgo. The blend is 70% Touriga Nacional and 25% Touriga Franca, complemented by splashes of Sousão and Tinta da barca.
Written by Decanter
