The 2009 “MUROS ANTIGOS ESCOLHA” is the first bottling of a Muros Antigos blend, a 70-30 mix of Loureiro and Alvarinho. Fresh and pure, this is clean and expressive, light but youthful and perky, with a lingering finish. It is quite charming, without a hint of age. Drink now-2016.
If pressed to pick the two best producers in Vinho Verde, Anselmo Mendes and Soalheiro, both located near each other in what might loosely be called Portugal’s “Alvarinho territory,” are on everyone’s short list. Both producers have an array of importers now—so perhaps it might actually be possible to source some of the wines now, which has not always been so easy in the past. One can only hope that situation continues to improve, but note that many of these are small production wines in any event. These, together with wines from other top producers such as Ameal or Feital, are also some very fine values. The modest reputation of the region in general holds prices down. You can get a lot of bang for the buck there, even though for the region the prices of the better wines often look startlingly high. These aren’t your typical Vinhos Verdes. This unusually extensive vertical showing is published to give a more complete picture of modern Vinho Verde, including its aging ability, although considering what sometimes happens in the distribution chain as opposed to the winery I tend to remain fairly conservative with drinking windows by disposition. (There are also quite a few notes for Soalheiro in this issue and in past issues, e.g., Issue 186, which featured older Soalheiros as well.) Note in particular: while many of these are quite old for Vinho Verde, virtually all of them are still prime time wines, not even close to mere curiosities of intellectual interest only. So, if you haven’t caught up, it is useful to know what Vinho Verde really means these days. Mendes has a restless creativity, constantly experimenting with different styles and techniques, often studying them for years before releasing the wines. They are all intellectually interesting as well as quite tasty—compare his different terroirs for Alvarinho, for instance, the Contacto vs. the Muros Antigos. In terms of vintages, Mendes has proven himself to be a very consistent producer. There are few failures here and the lesser vintages are still usually quite fine. It is fair to say, however, that Mendes hit many home runs in 2008, a powerful, crisp vintage in which he did everything right. He loves 2009 and 2011 as well, and well he should. They are generally very good vintages in the region as well. While 2010 seems not quite to be his personal style—a bit too warm, he says, perhaps not quite as transparent and minerally—they are nonetheless very fine as well, concentrated and often impressive. Consumers will like them. There isn’t much bad here, the over-the-hill 2006 Alvarinho, an off-vintage in the region and for most of Portugal, notwithstanding.The Mendes brands reviewed this issue are: The Muros Antigos is one of the older brands here. It is a workhorse that features more than one bottling: a monovarietal Alvarinho (made since 2001), a monovarietal Loureiro Escolha (made since 2005 from Ponte de Lima vineyards, which is ground zero for Loureiro, although Mendes’ winery is Alvarinho-centric and located in Alvarinho territory) and a blend (made only since 2009). If you’re wondering why the Loureiro is an “Escolha” and the Alvarinho here is not—well, Mendes says that the Alvarinho actually is, but he just hasn’t typically put it on the label. This brand has generally good quality, good prices and somewhat higher production. There are good value points here. It tends to produce around 90,000 bottles (or 7,500 cases in the traditional 12 bottle format, although Mendes typically sells 6 bottle cases) for the Alvarinho and the blend, a bit less--about 2/3rds of that--for the Loureiro. -The Contacto is a different vinification method for monovarietal Alvarinho, emphasizing skin con
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