Winemaker Notes
An austere profile, slightly floral and fruity, with a complex aroma and a
strong mineral component. On the palate, it has good structure, vibrant acidity, and a long finish.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Viticulture and enology for the 2023 Casa de Rodas Alvarinho is from Anselmo Mendes, and the grapes come from similar alluvial granitic soils as his own range. It was produced with the destemmed grapes. The juice was let to settle, then it fermented with neutral yeasts, and the wine was kept with fine lees in stainless steel for six months. It has a clean varietal nose, with the ripeness from 2023. It is contained and has a balanced palate with a soft texture, round and tender, reflecting the alluvial, richer soils, and a bitter twist in the finish. The first Alvarinho from the region was produced at this property in 1929, so it's a historical place in Monção and Melgaço. 13,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2024.
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.