João Portugal Ramos

João Portugal Ramos is Portugal’s most famous winemaker. Before he began making his own wines, he was a pioneering wine consultant widely considered Portugal’s Pierro Antinori or Emile Peynaud (The New York Times). In the decades that Ramos has consulted, he almost single-handedly opened Portuguese winemaking to the benefits of modern technologies with an emphasis on low yields, occasional oak aging, and the preservation of a grape’s natural fruit flavours. In 1990, he decided it was time to start creating his own wine and he began planting vineyards in Alentejo around his new winery, Vila Santa. J. Portugal Ramos’s 1250 acres of vineyard are located near the ancient marble-filled town of Estremoz in Alentejo. The schist and limestone-clay soil, combined with the region’s Continental climate, create ideal conditions for growing grapes. Ramos’s wines quickly met critical acclaim, and he expanded his vineyards to select locations in Tejo, Beiras and the Douro.

Deep ruby colour, rich nose of creamed black fruits, sweet spice and touches of liqourice and pepper.

Lovely with red meat casseroles, steak from the BBQ and good mature cheese.

A warming and generous red, using ripe Syrah grapes grown at several vineyards in the warm Alentejo. Fermented on skins in a combination of tank and cement vats, with 2 pump overs per day to extract maximum fruit and colour - the wine is then pumped into large wooden vats for a short period, with a partial cask ageing for some elements, before marrying the wines together, settling on fine lees and bottling.

The Sunday Times, February 2021: "Produced by the former wine consultant João Portugal Ramos, this is an exceptional blend of syrah and trincadeira from Alentejo. Packed with luscious red fruit and lively floral notes, it finishes long, dry and savoury." The Daily Record, April 2021: "With so many top-class local grapes, Portugal uses international varieties sparingly. Tempranillo (called tinta roriz there) is an exception but, otherwise, those familiar varieties often become, at best, simply minor blending partners. Here, though, a syrah from Alentejo is allowed out on its own. Ripe and floral, it contains cherry, plum and loganberry flavours supplemented by firm tannin and good acidity with suggestions of menthol, chocolate and baking spice."