ramos-pinto quinta da ervamoira port (douro)

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The 2017 Vintage Port Quinta da Ervamoira (in Douro Superior) is another Port from Ramos Pinto in this vintage that is Touriga Nacional-dominated—60% of the blend. The rest is Touriga Franca (15%), Sous?o (10%), Tinta Barroca (10%) and Tinto C?o (5%). It comes in with 98 grams of sugar. This is another of those Single Quinta Ports that is not really intended as a downgrade over the regular Vintage Port. Rather, it is just a different expression of terroir—and it is actually pricier than the regular Vintage Port that Ramos Pinto also made in 2017. When I first saw this as a tank sample in Porto last June, it seemed super, and I preferred it to the regular Vintage Port. (That's a little less clear today, by the way, as they have swapped places—by a little.) It's now bottled and in the USA. A defining feature of this elegant Port is always going to be the powerful aromatics, mint, eucalyptus, cistus and so on. It is all about the personality. There isn't a lot of fleshiness. It is not as rich as the regular Vintage Port, but it may have more precision, intensity and focus, as well as more personality. It showed a little more grip on the finish after a couple of days open. In the mid-palate, there is considerable finesse and no jamminess. Then, there's the big finish with some notable grip from tannins. All the while, it is fresh and lifted. A couple of days later, it was drinking pretty well. If it is not quite as rich as the regular Vintage Port, it often seems a brighter and livelier one, as well as a delicious one. This should be approachable fairly young and then hold well for a few decades or more without a problem. For the moment, as noted, I think this has swapped places with the Vintage Port—as I had a slight preference for that this time around. The styles will be more important than any perceived qualitative issue, no matter what.

The 2009 Vintage Port Quinta da Ervamoira is a blend of 55% Touriga Nacional, 30% Touriga Franca and 15% Tinta Barroca, coming in with 94 grams of sugar, a little on the higher side relative to how the wines in this vertical show. Tasting even a bit sweeter than statistics suggest, this is the richest of the vertical, but of course, it is also the youngest. It seems reasonably firm too, but tasted with about two hours more of air in a glass, it was completely approachable. This is very tasty, a good candidate for the best of the vertical, but I'd still vote for the 2007 at the moment. There were 9,375 bottles produced.

The 2007 Vintage Port Quinta da Ervamoira is a blend of 55% Touriga Nacional, 30% Touriga Franca and 15% Tinta Barroca, coming in with 79.8 grams of sugar, the driest of this relatively dry mini-vertical. This is another instance of Ramos Pinto making both the blended Vintage Port and this single quinta in the same vintage. Youthful, focused and very fresh, this has a lively feel and adds a layer of depth to the 2005 in this mini-vertical. The 1994 is a sentimental favorite because it is just so delicious, but this looks like the best of the group, with the ability to reach the same place in time. It does need to develop, but it is easily approachable right now. I will add that with an extra two hours in the glass, it put on weight, showed more power and became far more expressive—so it is not far away from being ready to roll. There were 19,000 bottles produced, together with some magnums.

The 2005 Vintage Port Quinta da Ervamoira is a blend of 55% Touriga Nacional, 30% Touriga Franca and 15% Tinta Barroca, coming in with 82.8 grams of sugar. This is not quite as firm as the 2004, perhaps, but it has more expressive fruit and flavor. I liked the lifted fruit and freshness (which I haven't always found in this vintage). It has finesse to go with the fine fruit and a nice finish. It is not massive in depth or power, but this might be the point in the vertical where the mix of fruit and structure gets to the best place today. It seems to be in a very good place. This can be drunk now. Some decanting wouldn't hurt. There were 19,500 bottles produced.

The 2004 Vintage Port Quinta da Ervamoira is a blend of 40% Touriga Nacional, 45% Touriga Franca and 15% Tinta Barroca (a big change from 2002), coming in with 90.5 grams of sugar. Compared to the jammy 1994, this has a bit more of an edge and focus (and far less Barroca), but it is not overly powerful, just a little tight. With two hours decanting in a small vessel (meaning, it airs out faster), it came around very well and showed more smoothness and harmony. It is not as developed or as expressive as the 1994, to be sure, and I'm frankly not sure it ever will be. It is very good, but just a little straightforward by comparison. Even though this is approachable, I would continue to age this to allow further development—or give it three hours of decanting in a normal decanter. There were 19,500 bottles produced.