Ramos Pintos Duas Quintas Reserva 2009

Winery: Ramos Pintos

Region: Douro

The vineyards situated around the Douro river in Portugal are amongst the oldest in Europe, and the area has been used for cultivating grapevines for at least two thousand years. As such, this is a region where tradition is strong, and authenticity is key, leading to characterful wines of real quality and uniquely Portuguese flavors. Although the region is most commonly known for its delicious and aromatic fortified wines, wineries and vintners of the Douro also make still red and white wines of great quality, using the many grape varietals which flourish there. Several red and white wine grape varietals grow extremely well in the region, thanks to the long hot summers and mild autumns the Douro enjoys, and each is used to its full potential by vintners with generations of experience and expertise.

Country: Portugal

Portugal has been an important center for wine production ever since the Phoenicians and Carthaginians discovered that the many native grape varietals that grow in the country could be cultivated for making excellent wines. After all, Portugal has something of an ideal wine producing climate and terrain; lush green valleys, dry, rocky mountainsides and extremely fertile soil helped by long, hot summers and Atlantic winds. Today, such a climate and range of terroir produces an impressive variety of wines, with the best wines said to be coming out of the Douro region, the Alentejo and the Colares region near Lisbon. Portugal has an appellation system two hundred years older than France's, and much effort is made by regulating bodies to ensure that the quality of the country's produce remains high, and the wines remain representative of the regions they are grown in.