Casal Do Ramilo Nativas Tinto Old Vines 2022

Casal Do Ramilo was founded in 1937 and is located in the Lisbon region between Colares and Mafra. They craft unique wines that are just as influenced by the Atlantic Ocean as they are the hillsides that the vines are grown in. With a temperate climate and rocky soils, which they farm with the utmost care, they make some of the most honest and transparent wines from Lisbon I have ever tasted. Hand harvested and destemmed, the old vine Castelão grapes are foot trodden and fermented for one week in a traditional lagar (a shallow trough made from concrete, stone, or steel, similar to a Palmento in Sicily, Italy). The nose had notes of dried red flowers, cola spice, cherry, and a touch of earth. On the palate I tasted a mix of black cherry, plum, a hint of spice, and a touch of garrigue. Jeremy Hernandez