Wine of the Week 1/28/20

Joao Portugal Ramos Vila Santa Reserva 2013

Regularly $20.99/On Sale for $13.96!!

WHAT A DEAL!

João Ramos is one of the success stories of the modern Portuguese wine industry. In a relatively short time his eponymous winery has grown to one of the largest in the Alentejo. The Alentejo is where Portugal’s climate finally escapes the Atlantic influence, and the scenery changes to large, gently undulating plains that experience baking hot summers and cold winters. It is a region with the potential to make extrovert, ripe wines with a taste of the sun about them.

Vila Santa was João Portugal Ramos's first wine. The name means “Holy Village,” referring to the nearby ancient city of Estremoz where the famed Miracle of the Roses occurred. In the 13th century, Estremoz was ruled by King Diniz and his wife, Queen Isabel. Isabel was dedicated to helping the poor, but had to hide her generosity from her husband. One day, as Isabel was leaving the castle with an apron full of bread, Diniz appeared and asked to see what she was carrying. Isabel opened her apron, where the bread had miraculously been transformed into roses. Isabel continued her work free from suspicion and was canonized in 1625. The Vila Santa red blend marries Aragonês, Trincadeira, Alicante Bouschet and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. After harvest, part of the yield is foot trodden in marble troughs, known as lagares, and the remainder is fermented in stainless steel tanks following a long post-fermentation maceration. The blend is aged for nine months in French oak barrels.

Don’t miss this extra-good WOW deal. We only have a limited supply of this one, and when it’s gone, it’s gone!