Muros Antigos Alvarinho by Anselmo Mendes

Muros Antigos Alvarinho 2024

by Anselmo Mendes

Grape variety
Alvarinho
Region
Monção e Melgaço (DOC Vinho Verde), Portugal
Style
white
Alcohol
12.5%
Vintage
2024

Price: CHF 13 In stock

About this wine

Anselmo Mendes founded his estate in Monção e Melgaço in 1998 and has since become the defining producer of Portuguese Alvarinho — the man who turned a regional grape into a benchmark for serious dry white wine. Muros Antigos Alvarinho is his flagship entry wine: 150,000 bottles from sunny hillside vineyards on granite soils poor in organic matter, harvested early to preserve aromatic freshness. Handpicked into small boxes, whole-pressed, cold-clarified for 48 to 72 hours, fermented slowly at low temperatures, then aged a minimum of three months on fine lees with regular bâtonnage. Clean, mineral, and precisely what Vinho Verde can be when the ambition is there.

Tasting notes

Pale straw with a light green shimmer. Pronounced citrus aromatics — lemon and grapefruit — with a white peach note and a stony mineral undercurrent. On the palate, vibrant and incisive with bright acidity, granite precision, and a long fresh finish.

Aromas

lemon, grapefruit, white peach, granite, green herbs, saline

Critic scores

  • : 91
  • : 3.9
  • : 93

Structure

body light-medium · tannin none · acidity high · sweetness dry

Serving

Serve at 11–13°C · Drink 2025–2029

Food pairings

Grilled sea bass, Steamed clams, Sushi, Fresh goat cheese

Best for

Vinho Verde. Serious edition.

From the winemaker

Handpicked into small boxes, whole de-stemmed and pressed, cold clarification 48–72h, long fermentation at 14–18°C, minimum 3 months on fine lees with regular bâtonnage. No oak.

Editor's note

Most people associate Vinho Verde with something sweet and slightly fizzy — this is the bottle I use to prove them wrong. Monção e Melgaço, mountain Alvarinho country, granite soils, early harvest to preserve freshness. 150,000 bottles — Anselmo Mendes' calling card. Three months on fine lees, long low-temperature fermentation. Clean, mineral, and precise.

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