January 1, 2024 - pears, green apple, unripe stone fruits, salty note, med+ acid. This wine seems not that age worthy and I just don't see it being good in another 4-5 years.
August 20, 2023 - Restaurant buy. Nicely paired with Dover sole
July 29, 2023 - Very high acidity with rocky earth and hard bland yellow peaches; some mouth play on the tongue; flavor-wise, it reminds me of a dry riesling (e.g. Chateau Ste Michelle) but with greater acidity, which I like. This definitely leans more towards your typical white wine than a skin contact wine in my opinion.
January 2, 2023 - on the nose lemon, grapefruit, green apple, pear. Quite complex on the palate, fresh, lots of minerals, lively but pleasant acidity, same aromas as on the nose, great QP ratio.
December 2, 2022 - Favorite budget alvarinho
August 15, 2022 - PnP. Similar to last note. Very good still. Paired well with zucchini risotto.
February 27, 2022 - We kicked off the 25th Virtual Wine Tasting event with this Alvarinho. The winemaker has allowed some skin contact during fermentation so I was hoping for a rounder, fuller bodied wine. We tasted it at room temperature and then chilled. Here is what the group thought of this wine.
Pale straw colored with citrus, pineapple, yellow apple and saline on the nose. Someone caught a whiff of petrol and we decided that the smell of Vaseline was an appropriate moniker. Medium acidity and light bodied this wine has medium intensity flavors of honey, tangerine, grapefruit, pineapple, yellow apple and I sensed brioche. I gave this version 11 marks on the VWTC score sheet.
The chilled version was crisper and had more prominent aromas and flavors. Saline, honeysuckle and brioche with far less apple/citrus notes on the nose. The palate had melon, grapefruit, pineapple and we felt the acidity was more prominent. The wine had more body and scored 13 marks with me. Overall this $20 gets 89 points from me, which is a far cry from the monster scores the pros gave. I will re-taste tonight and report back if there is any significant change to my assessment of this 3 star effort. Drink now with seafood or a chicken salad.
https://caspernick.com/2022/02/27/anselmo-mendes-contacto-alvarinho-2020-vinho-verde-portugal/
February 12, 2022 - I agree with others here: lemon blossom, grapefruit, asian pear, all with nice salty minerality. I'm surprised that there were not deeper, more savory notes due to the skin contact, but what's there is well balanced and so easy drinking I ended up drinking the whole bottle myself. No regrets.
December 17, 2021 - Lemon blossoms in the nose, quite dry on the palate, with decent acidity, and ibiscus and grapefruit coming through.
November 12, 2021 - Very nice value vinho verde. Zesty, mixed citrus, underripe peach, pear. Crispy acidity and a bit of roundness on the palate. Plays well as an alternative to SB with chèvre.