Winemaker Notes
The wine is a medium lemon color with intense aromas of white grapefruit zest combined with flint and floral notes of Paper Whites. This wine is elegant and engaging, with a touch of white peach skin on the palate and a long mineral finish. The partial barrel fermentation rounds out angular edges, but the racy acidity brings you back for another sip.
This mineral-driven Alvarinho makes an excellent partner for ceviche, Vietnamese-style summer rolls, Gazpacho, Greek feta, cucumber & olive salads and goat cheese & onion tart.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Delicious in its approachability – full of friendly peach and citrus, with a slight green apple overtone. It’s clean and precise, with crisp acidity and a slight bitterness on the finish that enhances the aftertaste.
Bright and aromatic with distinctive floral and fruity characteristics, Albariño has enjoyed a surge in popularity and an increase in plantings over the last couple of decades. Thick skins allow it to withstand the humid conditions of its homeland, Rías Baixas, Spain, free of malady, and produce a weighty but fresh white. Somm Secret—Albariño claims dual citizenship in Spain and Portugal. Under the name Alvarinho, it thrives in Portugal’s northwestern Vinho Verde region, which predictably, borders part of Spain’s Rías Baixas.
A cheerful, translucid, lemon-yellow and slightly pétillant white wine, Vinho Verde literally means ‘green wine’ and is named after the northwest Portugese region from which it originates. The ‘green’ in the name refers to the youthful state in which the wines are customarily released and consumed, not the color of the wine.
It is typically a blend of various percentages of Alvarinho, Loureiro, Trajadura, and Pedernã (Arinto). Following initial alcoholic fermentation, a natural, secondary malolactic conversion in cask produces carbon dioxide, giving Vinho Verde its charmingly light sparkle.