Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
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Quintas de Melgaço is the second biggest producer of Alvarinho grape in the Vinho Verde Wine Region. Its winery is located in Ferreiros de Cima, Alvaredo, Melgaço; in the North of Portugal, under the Appelation DOC VINHO VERDE, "Melgaço Sub-Region", where the best regional varieties of grapes are planted, especially the "Alvarinho" lineage.
The company was started by Amadeu Abílio Lopes, who started this project to fulfil the interest of some hundreds of producers of Melgaço. There are 430 shareholders. After twelve years in business Quintas de Melgaço has achieved national and international recognition for the quality of its products, which range from the traditional red wine through to the Alvarinho and the Trajadura mix, until we reach the real star of this region – the famous Alvarinho with characteristics resulting from the climate, the soil and the knowledge that has been passed through from generation to generation.
Best known for intense, impressive and age-worthy fortified wines, Portugal relies almost exclusively on its many indigenous grape varieties. Bordering Spain to its north and east, and the Atlantic Ocean on its west and south coasts, this is a land where tradition reigns supreme, due to its relative geographical and, for much of the 20th century, political isolation. A long and narrow but small country, Portugal claims considerable diversity in climate and wine styles, with milder weather in the north and significantly more rainfall near the coast.
While Port (named after its city of Oporto on the Atlantic Coast at the end of the Douro Valley), made Portugal famous, Portugal is also an excellent source of dry red and white wines of various styles.
The Douro Valley produces full-bodied and concentrated dry red wines made from the same set of grape varieties used for Port, which include Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz (Spain’s Tempranillo), Touriga Franca, Tinta Barroca and Tinto Cão, among a long list of others in minor proportions.
Other dry wines include the tart, slightly effervescent Vinho Verde white wine, made in the north, and the bright, elegant reds and whites of the Dão as well as the bold, and fruit-driven reds and whites of the southern, Alentejo.
The nation’s other important fortified wine, Madeira, is produced on the eponymous island off the North African coast.
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.