Collares Ramisco

Ramisco from Colares is one of my bucket list experiences so anytime I get to share (& it must be shared!)a bottle it’s a special experience indeed. Truffle, aged bark, blackberry must on nose; on palate those notes plus sour cherry concentrate, cassis, & forest leaves all in a light medium body. Did not decant & wondered if mildly corked (vs needing air). I experience these wines as remarkably evocative, & find my self transported to, for example, my English grandfather’s library in London,as a child, which I suppose is another way of saying it’s a”contemplative” wine. I also find the 500ml format an excellent way to sample aged, noble wine like this- the Goldilocks of proportion. I humbly bow to my dear friend for breaking this out.

CDC approved interior dinner with my homey. Time to celebrate. Think aged Rioja but super charged with acidity. Collares is One of the great growingly extinct wine species so please support it. Briefly decanted to rid it of some decayed cork but otherwise not too much sediment if at all. Iron red rim, tertiary flavors of Unami but still so fresh & vibrant, with crushed red fruits & currants. I’ve read the half life on Collares wines can be as long as a 1rst growth Bordeaux.

Very tertiary, like an elegant nebbiolo from the 60s. Very herbal, grippy tannins, rose, brick, tar.

Oh. My. God. Tried 2007 and this 1999 tonight. Remarkable difference. We're taking a bottle home to age. Port forward, tannic biting finish. Dried fig, apricot and brandied raisin. Almost peat moss finish.

Incredible. I think Portuguese wine is so underrated. This had the complexity of a Barolo. Tannic but elegant, the fruit still present even at that age. Coworker said it drinks like a sepia photograph, love that.