The Rising Tide of Green Wine

Memorial Day has already come and gone, and the Summer is unofficially on.  There may be no better wine for the season than Vinho Verde, Portugal's Green wine.  "Take a box to the beach!"  I like to tell people.  Light in body and alcohol with a little spritz and a lot of mouthwatering tangy lime/citrus, it's like squeezing a fresh pitcher of lemonade or limeade.  Pour a glass and let the relaxing and refreshing begin.  It goes with fish, especially ceviche and shrimp fajitas, barbeque, spiced shrimp or blue crabs.   Vinho Verde boldly goes where no wine has gone before, so if you were about to give up on wine and have a beer or a margherita, consider your summertime friend, Vinho Verde.   It's a picnic, a patio party, feet dangling off a pier, and hands trailing in the water.  It's the cold glass in your hand reading by the pool.  And as the shore rentals and ticking pump prices drain us of our hard earned cash, Vinho Verde is one place you can save a buck or twenty.   It's cheap, cheap cheap!!!

But despite the many ways in which Vinho Verde is a no brainer, there are actually lots of differences between the styles and brands, and the number of styles and brands available on your retailer's shelves has literally quadrupled in the last four years.   With 9 subregions, 20 allowable grape varieties both white and red, and yes, a Red Green wine, this might merit some discussion.  So The Native Grape is here to help you navigate the rising tide of Green Wine.  We'll tackle the region in three parts, dividing them the way they are divided in my brain, starting with the style most people think of when they say Vinho Verde which is the basic style that I have described so far and the only style that many people think exists.  Next time around we'll tackle the still wines from blends and single varieties other than Alvarinho (like the Loureiros) and leave the fine single varietal Alvarinhos for last.

Part 1

Although we think of Vinho Verde as a style of wine, it is actually an appellation-one of the largest wine regions in Portugal.  As is happening today in the US market, Vinho Verde was the original ambassador for Portuguese wines way back in the 15th Century when the wines became the first Portuguese wines to crack the European markets.   The region itself is in the lush and green Northwest corner of Portugal, the so called Green Coast.  Cool and wet with the strong influence of the Atlantic Coast, it's border to the West, the Entre Douro e Minho is bounded to the North by the Minho River (the Natural boundary with Spain's Galicia) and to the South and East by the Mountains that create the unique microclimates of the interior.   

The climate tells a lot of the story in Vinho Verde and played an important role in the development of the unique style of the wines.  Famous wine regions often tell a tale of poor soils and struggle-the less is more dichotomy of vines pulling their DNA from the rock as they tunnel deeper and deeper through in search of water(I realize I just inadvertently plagiarized David Hinkle.)  Not so in this cool and rainy, green corner of the world.    Vigor is a big problem.  The traditional leafy canopies trained high on their Pergolas to make room for ground crops produced an abundance of plesantly shady patios and unripe grapes.  To make things worse, growers fearing the impending rainy season, often picked early to avoid losing their harvest to rot.  To combat the searing acidity, a secondary malolactic fermentation was encouraged.   Unripe grapes are extremely high in malic acid.  Malolactic fermentation (used in almost all red wines) transforms tart malic (apple) acids into the rounder, creamier lactic (milk) acids.   The byproduct of this secondary fermentation, was the light bubble from the carbon dioxide released which gave the Vinho Verde wine its characteristic spritz.  

In the region today, growers have many more tools in their bag of tricks to encourage ripening of grapes, from better trellising to green harvests.  Most producers elect to block malolactic fermentation in their white wines as you trade some purity and aromatic qualities to make a rounder wine.   And although it's a bit difficult to find anyone talking about this (I think the marketers must prefer the traditional image of a naturally occurring bubble) if they are going for a traditional style,  carbon dioxide is more often added to the wine at bottling.  

I sometimes hear the criticism that all Vinho Verde tastes alike.  I could not disagree more.  They do indeed share a family of characteristics, but instead of lumping them all together try thinking of Vinho Verde brands as Champagne houses.  They each have their own unique style and flavor profile.  Some will be almost fully bubbly, some just prickly.  Some are just sweet enough to balance the tang, and others much sweeter.  Some are still searingly acidic and some soft and sweetly limey.  It becomes more a question of how do you take your coffee?  Sweet Tea or regular?  There will be a style to suit everyone's taste.   We can extend the Champagne analogy in a few more useful ways.  There are many many Quintas or growers in Vinho Verde, like in Champagne, "In fact, the region’s 27,000+ grape growers farm over 50,000 acres of vineyards planted in small plots averaging less than 3 acres in size." CVRVV   So a majority of them sell to the large cooperative wineries who produce the large brands.  There are also a number of Quintas that grow and produce there own wines, and many of the larger ones often make several labels (think grower producer Champagnes or single quinta Port wine bottlings.)  Vinho Verde and Champagne also share the common practice of Non Vintage cuvee bottling, a method that allows for the crafting of a house style and consistency of quality in climates that present a challenge to fully ripening grapes.  I have just two universal guidelines when it comes to this style of Vinho Verde.

#1  It should be Green!
It may not be how it got its name, the Vinho Verde commision insists that it means young wine, not Green Wine, because it is bottled within 3-6 months after the harvest.  But one of the shared characteristics of young Vinho Verde is the light and lovely ocean green/blue hue that the wine possesses.   The color is echoed in a lot of the label art.  If you see a golden or straw color in a wine that is not a single varietal bottling, avoid it.  It's probably over the hill.

#2  It should be Young!

Many of these wines will be non-vintage, but regardless every bottle of Vinho Verde DOC wine has a bottled on date printed on the label as well as a Guarantee Seal number where you can track its history through the Vinho Verde commission.
http://www.vinhoverde.pt/en/vinhoverde/garrafa/garrafa_en.asp

With these two provisos in mind go forth and experiment.  You can afford it!

My plan is to start a page of Vinho Verdes that we will build on all summer long.  So here is a start, but come back often to check for more and please send me your own favorites with tasting notes and whatever you know about the wines...I will be happy to add them to the page!!  

 

 http://thenativegrape.blogspot.com/p/vinho-verde.html

Vinhos Borges Gatão Vinho Verde, NV

Made by the Borges cooperative since the early 1900's, Gatão was originally named after the tiny town where it was first produced.  As the popularity of the brand increased and production demands forced the winery to source grapes from a larger area, the Vinho Verde commission enocouraged Borges to assume instead the "Large Cat" as their mascot so as to avoid misrepresenting the origins of the wine.   This large cat has graced their labels ever since (although originally the cat was more of a Puss in Boots type.)  Gatão is one of the most successful brands of Vinho Verde in the world today, distributed in 50 countries on 5 continents.   

Grape Varieties: Azal, Pedernã, Trajadura, Avesso and Loureiro 

 I always describe Gatão as a wine Margarita.  It really captures that Sweet and Sour balance, never too sweet and always with plenty of attack and tang.   It clocks in at 9%  alcohol and sells so briskly, you are almost guaranteed to find a fresh bottle!

Vinhos Messias "Santola" Vinho Verde, NV

The excellent Santola bottling by Vinhos Messias was recently recommended in the Washington Post.  The review said the wine tasted "a bit like Sprite."   I can see where they're coming from,  the Santola is really limey and of course has a bit of bubble.   But we have to take a little issue with that.  I don't think Dave Mcintyre has been driven by thirst at a kid's birthday party to tip a 2 Liter of Sprite in a while, because let me tell you, that stuff is sickeningly sweet!  The Santola on the other hand is on the drier side for Vinho Verde, and the bright acidity will refresh not cloy.  Made from Loureiro and Arinto varieties.  Here's what I get:

 On the nose: Fresh lime, lemon, freshly grated lemon zest, lime leaf, white pepper, basil and whiff of salty sea air. 

On the palate:  More freshly squeezed lemon and lime, a juicy mid palate of granny smith apple, the wine is squeaky clean and only prickly with a mouthwatering profile that finishes with a kiss of salt.

 

Anjos Vinho Verde 2011

 Made by the fine Quinta da Lixa estate in the Sousa subregion, the Anjos Vinho Verde consists of 40% Arinto, 30% Trajadura, and 30% Loureiro.  Imported by our good friends Wine in- Motion, this is a really quality wine for the money.  A much riper and gently sweeter style, it also has a little more bubble and an all around softer attack.  I almost wonder if they do a little partial malolactic on this one?  I get:

On the nose:  Powdery white flowers, wild yeasts, plantain, white pepper and pineapple.

On the palate:  Pineapple, apricot, fleshy sweet peaches, peach pit, mandarin orange and a long tangy and sweet finish of tropical lifesavers-orange, lime and lemon.