NOSE: “fresh”: minerals, papaya, and slightly woodsy petrichor.
BODY: color is medium-light yellow with a hint of green; medium-light bodied.
TASTE: 11.5% alc. not noticeable; fuzzy minerals – kind of metallic; medium+ acidity; not much fruit; “watery” strikes me as a fair descriptor; most of the action is on the front palate, where the minerals and acidity come to play: quinine; hint of lime seltzer; a bit Riesling-esque, and I don’t think that’s merely the Riesling-shaped bottle subconsciously influencing me; the back label makes a claim this will develop in the cellar for 15 years — I’m not convinced of that. I have had better vintages of this bottling, but it’s really hard to complain at $16.
That aging claim is interesting to me. The only wines I’ve had from the region that are anywhere near that level of quality are 100% Alvarinho. What am I missing? Is this wine much better in some vintages? Are there others based on grapes other than Alvarinho that are really good?
Those are all great questions, and I have nearly none of the answers. As to whether the wine is “much better” in some vintages — ehhhhh, I suppose that could be said — sure — but in a way that makes it sometimes ageable? I don’t think so.
Hi Doug. A couple years back I posted few tastings that that I referred to as ‘deconstructing vinho verde’ These were in a broader thread of exploring Portuguese wines. Here were my impressions of three single variety ‘vinho verde’ wines, including the 2019 vintage of the wine that Brian is posting about.
Depends on which variety is grown is which area. Surprise, surprise. Alvarinho does best in the extreme north. Loureiro in the Lima valley which is a bit more south. Avesso and Arinto tend to be grown in the more southern areas of the Minho. I’ve had terrific examples of all of them.