Winemaker Notes
It can be served as an aperitif or with light meals like fish, turkey, chicken, egg dishes and salads.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Loureiro is dry at four grams of residual sugar and seven of total acidity (plus, the pH remains pretty low at 3.10). It also has about 10% Alvarinho in it. There is no fizz and it comes in at 12% alcohol. This is a fairly big Loureiro in every sense. It has good depth (relative to the grape and region, of course) and some tension on the finish, despite that modest bit of sugar balancing the acidity. It's not the most expressive or aromatic Loureiro—that is perhaps the trade-off, and of course, it is not 100% Loureiro. It will be interesting to see how this evolves, whether it acquires more expressive fruit, which is the only issue just now. It handles the structure part of the equation very well. For now, though, it seems like it might become the best yet in the brand (granting that they are not all here together), and it should age pretty well. No matter what, it is a fine bargain.
Dating back to the late 18th century, Loureiro is native to Iberian Peninsula, grown mostly within the Minho region, though has flourished currently into neighboring Galicia. It produces a dry, high-toned, crisp white wine, redolent with aromas of white flowers and bay leaves. The grape is essential to the production of Portugeuse Vinho Verde and white blends of the Spanish region Rias Baixas. Somm Secret—The word Loureiro means “laurel” in Portugeuse, conveying the wine’s bay leaf aromatics.
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.