Joao Portugal Ramos Vila Santa Reserva Red 2012

  • 90 Robert
    Parker
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Joao Portugal Ramos Vila Santa Reserva Red 2012 Front Bottle Shot
Joao Portugal Ramos Vila Santa Reserva Red 2012 Front Bottle Shot Joao Portugal Ramos Vila Santa Reserva Red 2012 Front Label Joao Portugal Ramos Vila Santa Reserva Red 2012 Back Bottle Shot

Product Details


Varietal

Region

Producer

Vintage
2012

Size
750ML

ABV
14%

Your Rating

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Somm Note

Winemaker Notes

Intense garnet color. Aroma suggesting very ripe black fruits blending beautifully with the spiciness imparted by the barrels. Elegant and full bodied with soft tannins. A big powerful and full wine.

Professional Ratings

  • 90
    The 2012 Reserva Vila Santa is a blend of 25% Aragonez, 25% Alicante Bouschet, 20% Touriga Nacional, 20% Syrah and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged for ten months in a mixture of used American and French barriques (only about one-third new). I'd say this was a super value this year, but it usually is. That noted, it is remarkably graceful this year, a vintage with a lifted feel, although not the most concentration. It takes an hour for the fine fruit to open up. It's fresh and delicious. There is more than reasonable concentration for the level, by the way, and it shows a real backbone as well. You can dive in here on the early side, but it will age well for another decade, at the least, probably more, notwithstanding my typical conservatism in drinking windows. They always age well. This looks like a fine vintage for this, with an appealing if slightly understated style.

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Joao Portugal Ramos

Joao Portugal Ramos

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Joao Portugal Ramos, Portugal
Joao Portugal Ramos  Winery Image

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). His many accolades include winning 2010 Personality of the Year and 2006 Producer of the Year (Essencia do Vinho); 2010 Viticulture Team of the Year, 2000 Winemaker of the Year, and 1998 Company of the Year (Revista de Vinhos); 1999 & 2004 Winemaker of the Year and 2004 Producer of the Year (Vin & Mat, Sweden); 2004 Newcomer of the Year (Wein Gourmet, Germany); and the 2008 Prize for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (Portuguese Ministry of Agriculture). 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 flavors. 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. His most recent project is a crisp, fruity Vinho Verde called Lima, in tribute to the iconic river that runs through the region. Lima is a welcome addition to Ramos’s collection, each member of which can be identified by a signature insistence on quality, balance and expression of terroir. Ramos draws from his decades of experience to carefully create a range of wines. Depending on the provenance and variety of the grape, Ramos employs temperature-controlled vinification in steel tanks or traditional foot-treading in marble lagares, followed by aging in barrique to add richness of character. For all his wines, he employs advanced quality-control systems that have set the standard in Portugal. Born to a family with a long history of wine production, internationally acclaimed oenologist João Portugal Ramos was awarded a degree in agronomy from El Instituto Superior de Agronomia (Higher Institute of Agronomy) in 1977. After receiving a work placement at the National Winegrowing Station at Dois Portos from 1977 to 1978, he embarked on a career as an oenologist. As a consultant, he has played a significant role in the development of some of Portugal’s most notable wines. These successes have won him many awards and accolades throughout his career and brought him national and international acclaim as one of the main figures responsible for the development of Portuguese wines during the last 20 years.

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With hundreds of red grape varieties to choose from, winemakers have the freedom to create a virtually endless assortment of blended red wines. In many European regions, strict laws are in place determining the set of varieties that may be used, but in the New World, experimentation is permitted and encouraged resulting in a wide variety of red wine styles. Blending can be utilized to enhance balance or create complexity, lending different layers of flavors and aromas. For example, a red wine blend variety that creates a fruity and full-bodied wine would do well combined with one that is naturally high in acidity and tannins. Sometimes small amounts of a particular variety are added to boost color or aromatics. Blending can take place before or after fermentation, with the latter, more popular option giving more control to the winemaker over the final qualities of the wine.

How to Serve Red Wine

A common piece of advice is to serve red wine at “room temperature,” but this suggestion is imprecise. After all, room temperature in January is likely to be quite different than in August, even considering the possible effect of central heating and air conditioning systems. The proper temperature to aim for is 55° F to 60° F for lighter-bodied reds and 60° F to 65° F for fuller-bodied wines.

How Long Does Red Wine Last?

Once opened and re-corked, a bottle stored in a cool, dark environment (like your fridge) will stay fresh and nicely drinkable for a day or two. There are products available that can extend that period by a couple of days. As for unopened bottles, optimal storage means keeping them on their sides in a moderately humid environment at about 57° F. Red wines stored in this manner will stay good – and possibly improve – for anywhere from one year to multiple decades. Assessing how long to hold on to a bottle is a complicated science. If you are planning long-term storage of your reds, seek the advice of a wine professional.

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Best known for intense, impressive and age-worthy fortified wines, Portugal relies almost exclusively on its many indigenous grape varieties. Bordering Spain to its north and east, and the Atlantic Ocean on its west and south coasts, this is a land where tradition reigns supreme, due to its relative geographical and, for much of the 20th century, political isolation. A long and narrow but small country, Portugal claims considerable diversity in climate and wine styles, with milder weather in the north and significantly more rainfall near the coast.

While Port (named after its city of Oporto on the Atlantic Coast at the end of the Douro Valley), made Portugal famous, Portugal is also an excellent source of dry red and white Portuguese wines of various styles.

The Douro Valley produces full-bodied and concentrated dry red Portuguese wines made from the same set of grape varieties used for Port, which include Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz (Spain’s Tempranillo), Touriga Franca, Tinta Barroca and Tinto Cão, among a long list of others in minor proportions.

Other dry Portuguese wines include the tart, slightly effervescent Vinho Verde white wine, made in the north, and the bright, elegant reds and whites of the Dão as well as the bold, and fruit-driven reds and whites of the southern, Alentejo.

The nation’s other important fortified wine, Madeira, is produced on the eponymous island off the North African coast.

YNG566322_2012 Item# 148024

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