Ramos Pinto Porto Tawny

Ramos Pinto Porto Tawny is made by Casa Ramos Pinto, founded in 1880 in Vila Nova de Gaia, from Tinta Roriz and Tinta Cão grown on the schist soils of the Douro Valley. The region's heat-retaining slate terraces ripen the fruit fully, and after fermentation the must is fortified with grape spirit to arrest sugar conversion and lift the wine to 19.5% alcohol. What separates this Tawny from its Ruby sibling, both around three years old, is the vessel: ageing in smaller oak barrels exposes the wine to slow oxygen ingress, converting the deep red of youth into an orange-tinged amber and developing nutty, dried-fruit complexity through controlled oxidation. The colour is russet with a bright rim. The nose carries cherry, plum, blackberry and raspberry over walnut and hazelnut. The palate is light and warm, smooth and harmonious through the middle, the sweetness checked by gentle wood-derived grip. Serve lightly chilled at 12 to 14C in a small glass. It works through an afternoon with nutty cheeses, dried fruit and almond pastries, and stands up well to caramel and milk chocolate puddings.