Skip to main content

Alvarinho 2017 by Casa do Capitao-mor

The Alvarinho grape in Portugal (Albarino in Spain) is a thick skinned grape that can survive the wet climate north in Portugal (DOC Vinho Verde) giving light elegant and refreshing whites without too much problems of rot.

Normal style is zingy and zesty with exotic fruit, lemon and a distinct acidity and minerality. But not everything is normal, so this Casa has made a different version of the Alvarinho grape by using some of the principles of Burgundy white wine making.

The extended time lees with battonage gives a quite different character and complexity to the wine due to the additional flavours from the lees and a more subtle acidity due to malo.

The nose is thus citrus, apple, white flowers and some yeasty character. The taste is crispy, dry, high acidity on the smooth side and quite a decent length.

A well made different style of Alvarinho that drinks well young which can probably keep for 4-6 years as well.

Alvarinho 2017
Minho, Vinho Verde
Casa do Capitao-mor 
Portugal
Ca 12€ or 200 NOK




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Chambolle Musigny 2006 by Patrice Rion

I am still in Burgundy mood, which is a very expensive mood to be in wherever you live but especially when stuck in Norway. Luckily the selection is quite good and Friday my eyes landed on a Chambolle Musigny 2006 by Patrice Rion. Patrice Rion is a small bio-dynamically family run winery in Nuits St George and was created in 1990. According to what I was told previous weekend in Paris, Volnay and the Chambolle are the two most elegant and seductive wines from Burgundy. The wine is not unlike a Beaune Premier cru with  a medium dark red colour but perhaps slightly less "fat" with a lovely delicate smell of raspberries and cherries. The taste was soft, elegant, silky , smooth, velvety with lovely fruit, balance and creamy tannins. Very yummy indeed and so is the price at around 40€, but when you need Burgundy its worth every penny! Chambolle Musigny 2006, Patrice Rion P+ and drink between 4 to 6 years old. Domaine Michele et Patrice RION, vins de Bourgogne and please

Leoville Lascases 1988

Last week was a special week for me as I received my last pay check from my previous employer. An event that required some sort of celebration with some good friends. Of the many bottles opened during that evening was a Leoville Lascases 1988. This Bordeaux wine from St. Julien is second Grand cru classee but it has the quality of a first growth. This chateau was also the wine that made me change from beer to wine as I had the pleasure of tasting a Leoville Lascases 1945 back in 88.  The 1945  just knocked me off my guard and I remember thinking what a fantastic wine it was and what an experience to drink this wine from the year when world war 2 ended. I was in shock and I then just decided to enter into the world of wine. I have always had a soft spot for this chateau ever since. And to my pleasure  it has been performing well at much more reasonable prices than the much more expensive first growths in the 1855 classification. Nowadays a bottle of this wine costs around 180€ while a p

Wiston BdB 2011 - England

This is a fantastic 100% Chardonnay (Blanc de Blancs) from Wiston estate in England. Below are some remarks from the estate itself and Decanter: Selected from the chalkiest and steepest part of our vineyard, Wiston Estate Blanc de Blancs 2011 is elegant and expressive, with enticing notes of white peach, apricot, brioche and crushed oyster shells. Awarded the very top prize of ‘Best in Show’ in the Decanter World Wine Awards 2019 (the equivalent of the Wine Industry’s Oscars!), this decadent single vineyard, single vintage, single varietal Blanc de Blancs is perfect for immediate drinking and will also age beautifully. “Time spent on lees after secondary fermentation pays huge dividends for English sparkling wine, endowed as it always is with high natural levels of acidity. That’s a lesson triumphantly proved by this 2011 Blanc de Blancs, with its soft mousse, lifted, almost floral aromas and deft weave of apple, tangerine and pear fruits rippled through with yeasty, bready rich