Expressões Alvarinho 2021
by Anselmo Mendes
- Grape variety
- Alvarinho
- Region
- Monção e Melgaço (DOC Vinho Verde), Portugal
- Style
- white
- Alcohol
- 12.5%
- Vintage
- 2021
Price: CHF 27 In stock
About this wine
Expressões is Anselmo Mendes' most ambitious white: 100% Alvarinho from the eight distinct soil plots of Quinta da Torre in Monção, selected parcel by parcel and unified into a single wine that shows the full range of what the estate can produce. Only 6,000 bottles are made. The grapes are gently pressed, cold-clarified, then fermented in used 400-litre French oak barrels — not to add oak flavour, but to build texture. Nine months on total lees with bâtonnage follow, then 24 months in bottle before release. The 2021 vintage received 94 points from Robert Parker. A benchmark Portuguese white.
Tasting notes
Pale gold with a luminous clarity. The nose is floral and layered — jasmine, orange blossom, and a thread of light vanilla and toasted almond from the barrel work. On the palate, the acidity is vibrant and defining, framed by a creamy mid-palate texture from the extended lees contact. The finish is long, precise, and entirely Portuguese.
Aromas
jasmine, orange blossom, vanilla, toasted oak, lemon zest, almond, caramel
Critic scores
- Parker: 94
- Vivino: 4.1
- Suckling: 92
Structure
body medium · tannin none · acidity high · sweetness dry
Serving
Serve at 12–14°C · Drink 2025–2033
Food pairings
Roast chicken with cream sauce, Grilled scallops, Lobster, Aged goat cheese
Best for
9 months in oak. 24 in bottle. Worth every one.
From the winemaker
Fermented in used 400L French oak barrels; 9 months on total lees with bâtonnage; then 24 months in bottle before release. Only 6,000 bottles from eight distinct soil plots at Quinta da Torre.
Editor's note
Expressões is what happens when Anselmo Mendes decides to see how far Alvarinho can go. Only 6,000 bottles, from the best parcels across all eight soil plots of Quinta da Torre, fermented and aged in used 400L French oak — not for oak flavour, but for texture. Then 24 months in bottle before release. The 2021 got 94 from Robert Parker, but that's almost beside the point. What makes this wine interesting is that it sits somewhere between serious white Burgundy and something entirely Portuguese: the oak never dominates, the Alvarinho's acidity and aromatic precision always win.
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