2025 Anselmo Mendes Alvarinho

100% Alvarinho from Monção e Melgaço, the "Grand Cru" of Vinho Verde. Vineyards are planted primarily on the region’s characteristic granite soils. Grapes are hand harvested and fermented in stainless steel at cool temperatures, followed by approximately four months on the fine lees. Unoaked and made in the dry, still style for which Mendes is known. Approximately 12.5% ABV.

Tasting Notes:
Bright and wonderfully fresh, with green apple, lime, tangerine and white flowers, joined by subtle peach and a distinctly stony/mineral edge. Light to medium-bodied but with more texture than your typical Vinho Verde, thanks to the lees aging. Crisp acidity carries through a clean, persistent, mineral-tinged finish. Dry, refreshing and decidedly not your fizzy, porch-pounder Vinho Verde.

Producer Background:
Anselmo Mendes is one of Portugal’s most respected winemakers and is widely known as “Mr. Alvarinho.” A native of Monção, he began his own project in the late 1990s after years of studying Alvarinho and experimenting with its potential. Mendes helped pioneer a more serious style of Vinho Verde—dry, mineral, concentrated and often completely still—and has spent more than three decades exploring Alvarinho as well as Loureiro and Avesso throughout the region.