The 2018 Alvarinho Private, another in the proliferating labels from the winery, was aged for nine months in used French oak. It comes in at 1.5 grams of residual sugar, 6.9 of total acidity and 12.7% alcohol. This is sourced solely from a parcel called Vinha da Capela on granitic soils. This shows off its oak a bit up front, but it also has good freshness and good acidity, both supporting the fruit and cutting through the wood. This is certainly not a Vinho Verde in that porch-sipper style. The zest is a little muted by the wood, and this has a sterner feel. This will show far better with food than on its own, but it also has to show some ability to improve and develop in the cellar to justify this price point. I think it can, but we'll be a bit conservative just now.

The 2017 Alvarinho Private was aged for nine months in used French oak and comes in at 13% alcohol. It's fair to say that Mendes has a long list of labels using Alvarinho in various incarnations. Here's yet another. It is sometimes hard to tell the difference, but there is a notable one here. This is a single-quinta wine, Quinta da Torre in Mon??o. There's an old manor house dating back to the middle ages located in Gadanha Valley with a total surface of 62 hectares, of which 48 are planted with Alvarinho. The altitude varies between 55 and 90 meters and has different soil types from alluvial terraces until porphyritic granite, says the winery. This wine is from one parcel whose soil is "a profound granite with a medium granulometry." It comes in at less than 1.5 grams of residual sugar, 6.7 of total acidity and 13% alcohol. The "Private" or "PRVT" designation on varying wines these days indicates something experimental and different in the Vinho Verde region. Here, the difference is the focus on the specific terroir and its soil types. Showing a different flavor profile than Mendes's typical and more classic Alvarinho, this has more dried fruits and less fruitiness, more minerality (you know what I mean) and earthiness. The structure is very good, but the wine seems very well integrated, the acidity mingling with the wood and oak to produce something spicy and fresh. Overall, this is a very fine debut, but I'm willing to bet that the winery can do even better, adding more intensity in some vintages that are more focused on acidity. Overall, it's super, though. It should hold well at least a decade, but since it is a debut release, let's start here. For the record, Anselmo predicted 20 years.