#Port Wine Day: Ramos Pinto & Cafeína

cafThe celebration of Port Wine with the title of #PortWineDay took us, on the past September 10th (date when, in 1756, Marquês de Pombal created the oldest demarcated region in the world, Douro), to one of the wine dinners that were happening almost everywhere in the city, in the company of Ramos Pinto and of Cafeína.

About this space of Vasco Mourão there’s not much more to say, 20 years celebrating and marking the restaurant scene at Invicta with a unique nature. Ramos Pinto is also a unique brand, founded in 1880 by Adriano Ramos Pinto, a visionary at the time, who saw in marketing and image a way to take is wines to other levels.

In a full house day, as always, we started the night with an interesting and complex White Port, Adriano White Reserva.

caframospinto - 4Codfish cakes, cauliflower and mushrooms
With this simply presented and elegant starter, Camilo Jaña proposed to reinterpret the codfish cakes and its usual sides. What apparently was a codfish cake was in fact a croquette, with basis on a nicely seasoned and molded roux. Thin and elegant, highlighting the codfish and very well accompanied with a nice cauliflower puree, slightly sautéed mushrooms and toasted pinions that gave another dimension to the dish.
An excellent start that harmonized perfectly with the Duas Quintas Reserva Branco 2014, an elegant wine, full of complexity, for sure one of the great whites of Douro.

caframospinto - 2Sealed Lamb like a Chanfana (traditional portuguese stew)
Another reinterpretation of a national classic, lamb cooked with Duas Quintas in a chanfana style. Visually flawless, with moist and succulent meat, indication of the low temperature it was cooked at; High note also to the side, a pea puree with basis of peas, broad beans, asparagus, peas and chorizo. The lack of sauce from the so called chanfana was remedied with a gravy boat, facilitating the connection between all the elements and increasing the idea of what was intended. An excellent dish that could easily be on the restaurant’s menu.

Accompanying, very well, a Duas Quintas Reserva Tinto 2013, a young wine which structure and concentration combined nattily with the Lamb. To challenge the guests, the dish was also harmonized with the Port Ramos Pinto Vintage 2000, a surprising challenge and that worked excellently thanks to the structure of the wine, the ripe fruit and pepper notes and to the involvement of its 15 years of aging.

caframospinto - 1Almond and Pear Tart, Vanilla Ice cream
A classic dessert, well prepared, yet a bit too sweet for my personal taste. Good connection of the homemade vanilla ice cream, which freshness helped with the excess sweetness, and the vanilla flavor created a good synergy with the pear and the almond to the final harmonization.

In the glass a Tawny Ramos Pinto 10 Years, produced exclusively with the wines of Quinta de Ervamoira. A wine with orange color and fruit and vanilla notes well integrated with the wood. An excellent ending.

caframospinto - 5Two of the great wines of the dinner

Final Remarks
Another edition of #PortWineDay and another series of excellent initiatives created around the greatest symbol of our oenology, the Port Wine. As to dinner, it was a great opportunity to taste the new crops of some of the great wines of the house Ramos Pinto, like the inevitable Duas Quintas, one of the historical names of Douro, created by João Nicolau de Almeida, 25 years ago. From Cafeína’s kitchen came out well prepared dishes, with some innovation and irreverent notes, showing that after 20 years the restaurant keeps watchful of the future.

Versão Portuguesa

Disclaimer
We were at the Ramos Pinto Dinner for #PortWineDay by invitation of the organization, whereas this not alter our work, being the opinion and the text of the exclusive responsibility of the author.

Text: João Oliveira | Photos: Flavors & Senses

This entry was posted in Events and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

One Trackback

Post a Comment

Your email is never published nor shared. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

*
*

  • FLAVORS & SENSES AWARDS

  • PARTNERS

    Seeing the World with

    Travelling with

    In the Company of




  • Meta