NV Aphros Vinho Verde Super-Reserva Bruto

Community Tasting Notes (7) Avg Score: 89.8 points

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  8/10/2016 - Christine Havens Likes this wine: 90 Points

  A garnet-hued, frothy vixen of a wine, the Aphros Sparkling Vinhão Super-Reserva delights with ultra-earthy, pungent funk, and juicy black plum notes forming a concise bridge between nose and palate. Bright acidity cuts through layers of pruney deliciousness, the finish is brisk and short very much about black tea tannin and dried herbs. At 12.0% ABV it goes down very easily. I expect this pair well with charcuterie, unlike Lambrusco, it's bone dry. Sample

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  3/9/2015 - forceberry wrote: 93 Points

  A sparkling Vinhão multi-vintage blend composed of vintages 2005 and 2006, aged for 48 months on the lees before disgorgement.
  
  Dark, almost fully opaque black cherry color with a brief, pink froth. The nose is rich, sweet and earthy with very distinctive aromas of ripe blackberries, smoke, some earthy tones, a little bit of leather and a hint of jammy dark fruits. The wine is dry, medium-bodied and quite animal with robust flavors of crunchy dark berries, tart lingonberries, peppery spice, some sour cherry bitterness, a little bit of leather, a hint of bitter black chocolate chips and a touch of funky barnyard. Overall the wine feels very firm and structured with its high acidity and ample, grippy tannins, lending it quite astringent and tightly-knit overall appearance - something the ample, frothy and prickly mousse only exacerbates. The finish is dry, long and bitter with a lot of mouth-drying, grippy tannins and the finish is quite sharp and tangy with flavors of ripe black cherries, bitter sour cherries, peppery spice, some leathery funk and a hint of sappy, leafy greenness.
  
  A fun, tasty and enjoyably angular bubbly with tons of character and even more structure. This is like a funky and muscular farmhouse cousin of Australian Sparkling Shiraz with a propensity towards unprovoked violence. The wine is starting to show some developed character, but my overall feel is that it will still continue to improve from here. A lovely - but definitely not easy - wine that really calls for food. I'd love to try this wine out with a proper steak tartare.

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  11/27/2014 - blakel Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Previous notes stand. A wonderful and unique wine.

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  6/30/2014 - blakel Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Wow. This has more bubbles than anything I've ever opened. Dark opaque purple-red with a huge frothy head of pink foam. Nice nose of dark fruit and stones. Ultra-dry, with mouth-puckering tannins that somehow stay pleasant and balanced. Notes of mushroom, earth, and orange peel on the palate. Reminiscent of sucking bitter cherry candy through a charcoal stick - in a good way. Wonderful pairing with sardines and beets. Super unique and interesting - I am going to buy more. (later...) On night 2 after sitting open in the fridge this hasn't changed much - still super-frothy with all the same notes, possibly a little more integrated. Great stuff.

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  1/10/2014 - Gargantua Likes this wine:

  Sparkling leather! Charcoal too. But sweet and light enough.

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View all 7 Community Tasting Notes

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