This is what good wine from the Ramisco grape tastes like

Ramisco is a lesser-known, indigenous Portuguese grape that produces rather tannic wines. They are usually aged for years before being drunk. Even then, the firm tannins stand out, along with the aroma of blackcurrants. A grape for advanced wine drinkers.

The Ramisco grows in Colares in Portugal, a district in the Estremadura region, right on the Atlantic coast. The vineyards lie on a thick layer of sand, sometimes more than five meters deep. The roots of the vines must penetrate this to find their nourishment in the loam layer below.

As a result, the phylloxera – which destroyed almost all European vineyards in the late nineteenth century – has never taken hold of the Ramisco. The phylloxera hates sand. Consequently, the Ramisco is one of the few remaining 'truly European' grapes.