92 pts Wine Advocate
Drink Date: 2025 – 2032

The 2024 bottling of the young and fruit-driven NV Vinho do Porto Ruby Seco comes from their Vinha dos Trinta mentioned on the front label and was produced with the lowest amount of alcohol (18%) and sugar (48 grams) possible, recovering the ancestral style from centuries ago. It has an exuberant nose with notes of mint and spices, reminiscent of a vermouth and with a Mediterranean twist of aromatic herbs. It does feel quite dry, and you notice the tannins; so, I guess it needs something powerful, Belgian dark chocolate comes to mind. It had a traditional vinification in lagar with full clusters that were foot trodden and matured in pipas and concrete for an average of five years. 800 bottles produced. This is hand-crafted in a category dominated by industrial wines.

A blend of fortified red grapes from Porto, Douro, Portugal; medium bodied, dry, stewey, and spicey with notes of cooked berries, cola, and cocoa, with mushroomy undertones, balanced acidity, and a long fruity finish. Organic with biodynamic practices

Mateus Nicolau de Almeida, of a family with long ties to the Douro, has two new projects which are as exciting as anything his family has done in the past: the Trans Douro Express, and the Eremitas (Hermits). The Almeida clan owned Ramos Pinto and the family is still responsible for the winemaking at that reputable Port house; Mateus grandfather made Barca Velha, arguably the most iconic and historically important dry wine made in the Douro, paving the way for all that came after him. More recently, in 1994, Mateus father, Joo Nicolau de Almeida, created Quinta do Monte Xisto in a vineyard he planted in Vila Nova Foz da Ca, in the Douro Superior. The Quinta covers nearly 100 acres, with roughly twenty-five acres dedicated to vines. The farming is organic, and biodynamic practices are also used. Plants are treated with cactus tisane and eucalyptus, all sourced locally from the trees that share the land with the vines.

It is in this biodiverse environment that Mateus now lives with his wife, the Spanish winemaker Teresa Ameztoi, and their young children, continuing the vigneron tradition his family fostered in the region. After literally burying his winery in the brute schist, he started exploring the terroir around him with the help of his sister Mafalda, trying to extract from his grapes the identity of the three different sub-regions of the Douro: the Baixo Corgo, the Cima Corgo, and the Douro Superior.