Muros Antigos Espumante Bruto Natural 2023
by Anselmo Mendes
- Grape variety
- Alvarinho
- Region
- Monção e Melgaço (IG Minho), Portugal
- Style
- sparkling
- Alcohol
- 12%
- Vintage
- 2023
Price: CHF 17.5 In stock
About this wine
Anselmo Mendes founded his estate in Monção e Melgaço in 1998, and has since become the defining producer of serious Portuguese Alvarinho — the man who turned a grape known for simple house wines into a benchmark for Northern Portugal. The Muros Antigos Espumante is his most ambitious departure: a classic-method sparkling wine made from 100% Alvarinho grown at Quinta da Torre, on the granite hillside slopes of Monção e Melgaço. The grapes are whole-pressed, fermented in stainless steel, then undergo a second fermentation in the bottle for 9 months on lees before dégorgement. No dosage added — Bruto Natural. The result shows the Alvarinho grape in its most structured, mineral form: taut and precise, with the characteristic aromatic intensity of the variety fully amplified by the bubbles.
Tasting notes
Bright lemon yellow with a fine, persistent bead. The nose is delicate and perfumed — white peach, lemon zest, and a faint saline lift from the granite soils. On the palate, crisp and bone dry with vibrant acidity, creaminess from the extended lees contact, and a long, focused finish that lingers with mineral precision.
Aromas
lemon zest, green apple, white flowers, brioche, citrus blossom, wet stone
Critic scores
- Suckling: 93
Structure
body light-medium · tannin none · acidity very high · sweetness bone dry
Serving
Serve at 6–9°C · Drink 2025–2030
Food pairings
Oysters, Prawn tempura, Smoked salmon, Seafood risotto
Best for
Champagne method. Alvarinho soul.
From the winemaker
Classic method (méthode traditionnelle): whole-pressed Alvarinho, cold-decanted 48h, fermented in stainless steel at 16°C for 20 days, then 9 months on lees in bottle before dégorgement. Zero dosage — Bruto Natural.
Editor's note
I first encountered Anselmo Mendes at a tasting in Lisbon — he's something of a legend in Portugal, the man who almost single-handedly put Monção e Melgaço on the map as a serious wine region. This sparkling is his most unexpected wine: 100% Alvarinho made in the classic method, second fermentation in bottle, zero dosage. No other region does this with Alvarinho. I stock it because it answers a question I get asked often: something sparkling that isn't Champagne and isn't Prosecco.
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