TN: 1997 Ramos Pinto Duas Quintas Reserva

[John Conwell]

I tried this at a work wine tasting, and didn't take any notes at the time. So this TN is from memory about 2 weeks old.

This is an incredible red wine, by any country's standards. Its 70% Touriga Nacional, and I cant remember what the remaining 30%. It has a decent full red fruit flavor to it, smoky, good spices, medium tannins. The nose is spicy and earthy.

I was able to pick it up at the Spanish Table for $19, on sale from thirty something. If you like a red wine with nice spices to the flavor, try this one!

[Joe Cz]

By coincidence, I opened a bottle of this over the weekend. The nose is just as you describe it, with plenty of smoke, spice and earth. I also got a bit of tobacco and maybe some cedar. Although it's Touriga Nacional and Tinta Barroca (IIRC), it actually shows some similarities to Bordeaux in its aromas and mouthfeel. Personally, I'd prefer a little more weight and power, as well as something more identifiably Douro, but it is a nice wine that went well with dinner. Seems to be pretty much at peak, given the way the tannins have smoothed out since its release. I have one more bottle that I'll probably drink up sometime in the next year.

Joe

[Mike Kerr]

Interesting to see how an older vintage of the same wine differs over the years. I posted a 2002 vintage for that wine several months ago, and will post it here for comparison.

TN: 2002 Duas Quintas by Ramos Pinto, Portugal ($11)

A very deep purple colour. Dark-berry nose, earthy, sugary. Medium body, short to medium, mildly spicy finish. Musky flavour, almost smoky, with some subdued berries. Not very flavourful at the outset and needed to decant for a couple hours before the berries woke up and brightened it up a bit. Once it opened up, some strawberry and raspberry were present. This one is very quaffable...bottles will go quickly even without decanting, though I would recommend giving it at least an hour to an hour and a half to breathe.

Mike.

[John Conwell]

I went back and got a few more bottles of this wine. The one I tried a few weeks ago I drank without any decanting or waiting. Pretty much an open, pour, and drink job.

My next time i'll have to play with it in the decanter and see that a bit of O2 does to its flavor.