2019 Anselmo Mendes Contacto Alvarinho

De filosofie van Anselmo Mendes is dat elk perceel, elke plek de Alvarinho, een eigen, ander karakter geeft. Hij toont dit mooi aan met deze wijn. Hij is gemaakt van alvarinho-druiven uit uitsluitend Monção e Melgaço, maar dan van lagere wijngaarden, dichter bij de rivier de Minho, waar de ondergrond diep is, met een hoog gehalte aan keien. Dit levert een wijn op met meer structuur en veel complexiteit, die ook het mineralige, wat groente-achtige karakter en het bijzondere bitter van de alvarinho meer op de voorgrond zet. Dit karakter wordt geaccentueerd door een kort schilcontact bij de gisting, gevolgd door een gisting op lage, en later juist wat hogere temperatuur, variërend tussen de 14 ºC and 22 ºC. Diepgang krijgt hij door een rijping op de fijne lie van minimaal vier maanden.

In de neus heeft de Alvarinho een weelderige en brede geur, mooi rijp en krachtig, gele pruimen en rijpe peer, heel complex, mooi tropisch fruit. In de mond heeft de Contacto een krachtige smaak, structuur en diepgang, blijft fris, met appel, lengte en het typische bittertje van de alvarinho in de afdronk. 

Serveren bij Heerlijk bij een kipsalade, scholfilet met verse tuinbonen, varkenshaas met roomsaus.

91/100 Parker

Rating
90

Release Price
$20

Drink Date
2019 - 2027

Reviewed by
Mark Squires
Issue Date
31st May 2019
Source
End of May 2019, The Wine Advocate

The 2018 Alvarinho Contacto, tasted about two months after bottling, comes in at 13% alcohol, 6.1 grams of total acidity and less than two grams of residual sugar. Concentrated, fairly intense and long on the finish, this expresses its grape well even at this young age. It opened fast enough so that I did wonder if this will age as well as some years, but it certainly has the structure to age. And a couple of hours later, it had not budged a bit. Overall, this seems like a fine Contacto. It kept blossoming in the glass. There were 120,000 bottles produced from vines between 16 and 20 years in age.

Anselmo Mendes said this year’s harvest started on the 14th of September, while last year it started earlier, on the 3rd of September. The fall in production was about 20% and was due mainly to mildew attacks.

They have three subregions: Monção e Melgaço (Alvarinho), Vale do Lima (Loureiro) and Baião/Vale do Douro (Avesso). Mendes said, "the Alvarinho quality is at the level of the 2015 vintage, with good balance between alcohol and acidity. Loureiro is, in my opinion, the best of the century—very perfumed and austere, with balanced acidity and great structure. Avesso has good acidity levels, even though during August very high temperatures were reached in the Vale do Douro (Vinho Verde)—above 40 degrees Celsius. Avesso wines are exceptionally well-balanced. I think the fact that it rained above average in May, June and July has caused falls in production due to the mildew attacks and hard flowering. However, the plants still had water in the soil, which allowed a slow but great maturation. Summing up, we had a fall in production favorable to the quality. The water in the soils was enough for a slow maturation and good balance between sugars and acids.

During the maturation, it only rained in the beginning of September [in] small quantities, which was favorable to the end of the maturation. The sanitary state of the grapes was excellent, since it did not rain during the harvest. Daily temperatures were 25 degrees to 28 degrees Celsius, and at night [they were] 12 degrees to 15 degrees Celsius, which are great weather conditions to obtain quality. We will have great Loureiro and Alvarinho, with well-balanced acidity, high varietal character, complexity and minerality.

Note: The Minho Valley (Alvarinho) and the Lima Valley (Loureiro) had exceptional climate conditions, better than in the rest of the country. The Atlantic influence was moderate and the protection from the mountains favored the grape maturation. With no doubts, this was definitely a great year!"