Soalheiro Alvarinho 2024

Our Portuguese panel has been alive to the vibe from Moncão et Melgaço in Vinho Verde for some years now (with a Best in Show in our 2021 competition), so it was gratifying to see this benchmark example cruise its way back into this year’s selection. ‘Green’ is often an insult in winemaking terms, but in Portugal’s granite-soiled Vinho Verde (‘green wine’) region, it’s a prerequisite. The joy of Alvarinho, of course, is that it adds an extra aromatic note of floral charm here (apricots are more typical in Galicia), so your journey into the wine is as much journey into flower garden as it is forest glade. The palate is impressive: there’s nothing slender or shivering about it, nor does it rely on sweet tweaks. Instead it’s svelte and textured, with density to match the wine’s natural drive and freshness. Its 12.5% is low enough to make it a white to drink, not to sip … with or without food: this wine would make both a quenching aperitif and a perfect summer-salad white.

The extremely young classical 2024 Alvarinho felt very reductive after the very recent bottling, and it remained difficult to read even after a couple of hours in the glass. This was the first wine produced by the family back in 1982, a varietal with floral aromas and good ripeness and freshness, noted by 12.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.17 coupled with 6.4 grams of acidity. Here, they don't do skin contact or malolactic, as they're trying to keep the purity and freshness, and they ferment it with neutral yeasts and keep it unoaked with lees for at least two months. All their wines have the dry granite finish, even the entry-level ones. 385,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in January 2025. In my experience, this wine is much better with a little time in bottle. I'd wait at least until next year to pull the cork.

Salt, white peaches and lemons on the nose. The palate is fresh and round, with clean, precise acidity. An easygoing, approachable and refreshing wine. Drink now.