Mendes & Symington Contacto Alvarinho 2023

$21.99

19.99 on 6+ (use code: 6saves2)

Serious Vinho Verde, particularly Alvarinho, is a much more complex and layered wine than what most people think of Vinho Verde. Today's wine "Contacto" gets it's name for the time the wine gets "in contact" with the grape skins. While short and not an orange wine at all, it adds textural and flavor dimension most Vinho Verdes all lack and puts this wine at the top of many people's choices for top white wines from Portugal. In fact, if all goes according to plan, wines from the region this wine hails from (Monção & Melgaço) will get their own DOC and no longer have to be associated with Vinho Verde. The quality level is so good on average from here that the lower price association of Vinho Verde is holding back the ability for wines like today's to fetch higher and more deserving prices (your advantage here folks). The Bouca wines below fall into a different sub-region with different grapes, but the commitment to high quality is the same!

"One famous producer of Alvarinho Vinho Verde is Anselmo Mendes, who has been making a range of both Alvarinho and Loureiro wines since 1998, although they have only been available in the U.S. for the past several years."
"The Anselmo Contacto Alvarinho was in a class by itself, beautifully balanced with an impressive and persistent mineral note. Like their fruity, fun counterparts, these dry Vinho Verdes were a pleasure to drink, even more so with food, especially seafood."
"Anselmo Mendes is a star of Vinho Verde for his many successful winemaking experiments. One such foray is this skin-contact Alvarinho (thus the name Contacto)—fermenting wine is allowed some contact with the grape skins, lending texture and depth—a rich and well-balanced white with a powerful mineral persistence."
- Lettie Teague, Wall Street Journal

I used to buy and drink a lot of Contacto, the original version from Anselmo Mendes years ago. 2011-2015 vintages were always around the house in the summer up until I moved to NC where the wine was no longer available. Fast forward 6 years and a new collaboration with the Symington Family has brought this new version to NC. This is a new Contacto from a single vineyard that Anselmo personally picked out that is not available anywhere except here and a few select big markets at the moment, and there it is mostly in restaurants. Fresh, piquant, with excellent energy from the fresh and mineral character of the wine, this is a no brainer for the summer.

Contacto Alvarinho is obtained om the noble Alvarinho grape variety grown exclusively in the sub-region of Monção and Melgaço. The location of this sub-region provides it with a temperate climate, being surrounded by a range of mountains on the Spanish border, which allows us a unique combination between precipitation, temperature and light required for the perfect maturation of the grapes. For the production of this wine, vineyards were selected near the river with granite soils of sandy loam texture. Located at low altitude, with alluvium and fluvial terraces well present, offering the wine complexity, minerality and bitterness typical of the variety.

WINEMAKING Grapes are handpicked into small boxes and carried to the winery in a short period of time. Total de-stemming with a short skin maceration followed by cold clarification at 54°F. Undergoes fermentation at a controlled speed and temperature. a minimum of 3 months aging in stainless steel on fine lees with regular batonnage.

TASTING NOTE A floral and delicate aroma, Contacto has a high aromatic concentration. The minerality present turns it into an elegant and complex wine. Well-present citrus notes and complexity on the palate are the key to tasting this wine.

WINEMAKERS Anselmo Mendes

GRAPE VARIETIES 100% Alvarinho

DENOMINATION DOC Vinho Verde Alvarinho, Monção e Melgaço Produced 30,000 9L. UPC:094799230014

WINE SPECIFICATION Alcohol: 13% vol Total acidity: 6.8 g/l tartaric ac