Wine & Spirits - August 2020 - 53

YEAR'S BEST VINHOS VERDES
from Ameal since Esporão purchased the historic property in 2019. Sited above the Lima
River, an area noted for its loureiro, Ameal
holds its yields to 5.5 tons per hectare, growing a deep-toned wine, markedly vinous. This
starts off smelling like fresh green pears, ripening and ready to fall off the tree. Then the
mineral tones develop: rock, flowers and salt
in a tense standoff, soothed by the round,
generous texture of the wine. This is irresistible in its youth, and affordable enough that
it's worth holding a bottle or two for next
summer, to see how it will evolve. § Now Wine
Imports, Livingston, NJ
277472

91 | Aveleda

277855

90 | Esporão

$10

2019 Vinho Verde Bico Amarelo ^ A friendly
Vinho Verde with enough nectarine and
kumquat richness to fully integrate its acidity, this is plump and generous, with a honeyed texture. Direct that ripe fruit toward
prawns in a coconut-milk yellow curry. § Now
Wine Imports, Livingston, NJ

$12

WHITE BLENDS
277601

$11

2019 Vinho Verde Alvarinho-LoureiroTrajadura (Best Buy) ^ Quinta da Lixa farms
260 acres of vines at six estates, producing
this blend at their winery in Lixa, close to
the center of the Vinho Verde region. This
blend is all about brisk green pear flavor and
a scrub of acidity that keeps it bone dry. The
fruit expands with a day of air, as it will over
the next several months in bottle, gaining
in its crunchy fruit and mineral freshness. §
Grape2Glass, Newark, NJ
277451

90 | Adega de Monção

277623

277457

90 | Fifth Empire

$15

2019 Vinho Verde Destino ^ A blend of loureiro (70 percent) and alvarinho, this is a generously textured Vinho Verde that still carries
plenty of limey acidity. It's salty, lively and
tart, ready for a summery salad with fresh
goat cheese, or grilled whole sardines. § ALT
Wines, Coral Gables, FL

$12

87 | Casa do Valle

$11

87 | Quinta da Lixa

$8

87 | Quinta da Lixa

$10

277734

90 | Quinta da Raza

2019 Vinho Verde (Best Buy) ^ Spritzy, with
limeade flavors and tart apple acidity, this
is simple, grapey refreshment for summer. §
Massanois Imports, NY
277597
2019 Vinho Verde Anjos de Portugal (Best
Buy) ^ This wine's green flavors of lime and
fresh pea shoots come out of a blend of
arinto, loureiro and trajadura. The brassy
acidity keeps it clean, with a savory, grassy
note to match sautéed prawns with green
olives. § Grape2Glass, Newark, NJ
277598
2019 Vinho Verde Terras do Minho Loureiro Trajadura Arinto (Best Buy) ^ This
simple melon-scented blend has a spritzy feel
to its acidity. It's tart, lemony and light; for
aperitifs. § Grape2Glass, Newark, NJ

$10

2019 Monção e Melgaço Escolha (Best
Buy) ^ Twenty-five growers came together
in 1958 to create this cooperative in what
is considered prime land for alvarinho.
This Escolha (selection) is a 50-50 blend of

88 | Encostas do Lima

2018 Vinho Verde Meio Seco (Best Buy) ^
With the nutty richness of cashews and
Macintosh apples at its core, this wine has
developed some fusel-oil character with a
year in bottle. It's supple and ready to drink
with pan-roasted sole. § Kysela Père et Fils, Winchester, VA
277843

$14

2019 Vinho Verde Loureiro (Best Buy) ^
More about body and weight than tartness,
this loureiro has spicy notes of gooseberries
and lime, a rich white for grilled squid stuffed
with chorizo. § P.R. Grisley, Salt Lake City, UT

92 | Quinta da Lixa

$12

2019 Monção e Melgaço Muralhas (Best
Buy) ^ Tangy with notes of orange oil and
perfumed fruit, this is a lightly unctuous
alvarinho blended with 15 percent trajadura.
Pour it with roast sea bass. § Aidil Wines &
Liquors, Newark, NJ

2018 Vinho Verde Loureiro (Best Buy) ^
The fresh lime-like flavors of loureiro fill this
crisp Vinho Verde. It's clean and pure, ready
to enjoy with bay scallops or prawns. (W&S
2/20) § Tri-Vin Imports, New Rochelle, NY
277721

89 | Quinta de Gomariz

the hills above the Tamega River, inland from
the sea and close to the border with Vila Real.
That might account for the fruit richness of
this wine's flavors, pineapple and litchi just
edging toward ripeness. It's clean and fragrant, with enough weight to the blend-
arinto, azal and trajadura-to pour it with
grilled chicken. § Regal Wine Imports, Moores-
town, NJ
277449

88 | Adega de Monção

$15

2019 Vinho Verde Loureiro (Best Buy) ^
Clean, fresh and saturated with honeydew
flavor, this has the round texture of loureiro, along with the rich almond and tangy
orange notes in the finish to bring you back
for another sip. It's an integrated expression
of the variety from this quinta at the center of
the Vinho Verde region, in Penafiel. § Aveleda,
Pawtucket, RI
274384

90 | Quinta da Lixa

green-apple-scented alvarinho and floral,
lime-bright trajadura. It's clean, with a little
spritz, to chase down freshly shucked clams. §
Aidil Wines & Liquors, Newark, NJ

$12

2019 Vinho Verde Raza (Best Buy) ^ This
quinta is located near Celorico de Basto, in
WINE & SPIRITS

AUGUST 2020

53
https://www.esporao.com/en/products/%23alentejo-herdade-do-esporao https://www.kysela.com/wine/lima-vinho-verde.html https://www.thefifthempire.com https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/quinta+da+raza+verde+minho+portugal/2019
Wine & Spirits - August 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - August 2020
