NV Ramos Pinto - Porto 20 Year Old Tawny (750ml)

Ramos Pinto was established in 1880 by Adriano Ramos Pinto, who quickly built a reputation for both winemaking excellence and inventive marketing that set the house apart from its contemporaries. The company became a pioneer in the Douro, among the first Port producers to invest seriously in vineyard research and terroir study rather than relying purely on tradition. Since 1990 the house has been part of the Champagne Louis Roederer group, though it has kept its founding emphasis on precision viticulture and single-estate winemaking, an approach still uncommon among Port producers at this level of aging.

Unusually for the category, this Tawny is a single-estate wine, sourced entirely from Quinta do Bom Retiro in the Cima Corgo. The wine is blended from a range of vintages with an average age of twenty years, made from a traditional mix of Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, and Tinta Barroca, then rested for decades in 650-liter oak casks. This patient, single-vineyard approach gives the finished wine a distinct sense of place alongside the layered complexity typical of long barrel aging.

The color is a warm amber with a glint of orange. The nose offers dried figs, dates, and apricot intertwined with orange peel, toasted almond, and a touch of caramelized toffee. On the palate the wine is velvety and rich, with luscious dried fruit and caramel balanced by a thread of bright acidity that keeps the finish lively rather than cloying. It makes a wonderful match for poached pears in caramel sauce, or a simple plate of toasted almonds and dried figs.