Portugal Vinho Verde

I've always been a mad Wednesdayite to the extent of watching pre-season friendly's, well what a storming night last month was when Glasgow rangers came to Hillsborough, what great support and they certainly enjoy a drink!

However the previous weekend I went to Portugal Alberfura to watch the Owls play, well you wouldn't believe it we were playing Hull and there were about 1500 supporters from Sheffield, it was also Carnival time down Alberfuras famous strip, so after a belly full of Sagres Lager it's time for wine and what better than Portugal's famous Vinho Verde, it makes a wonderful aperitif and can be as low as 8.5% vol so it goes great with Chinese, Thai, Fish & Sushi.

Well Portugal is overflwing with fish, so me and 5 pals found a wonderful seafood restaurant overlooking the beach in the Old Town, there was no menu just a counter display full of every sort of fish you could imagine, I had Clams & Sole washed down with gallons of Vinho verde. The new breed of Vinho Verde can present quite a different style to the old style but it still has freshness with higher levels of concentration reaching 10/11% volume, the wine has a little petulance and a prickle on the tongue. This wine could become quite trendy, maybe the new Pinot Grigio……

Vinho Verde is not a grape variety it literally means “green wine” but translates to “young wine” and needs drinking young too. The petulance comes from the malolactic fermentation taking place in the bottle but most wine makers now complete this before bottling s the wine can be in a clear bottle rather than an opaque bottle which used to hide any sediment floating around. Vinho Verde is from the historic Minho Province in the far North it's a proper thirst quencher with hints of citrus made from lots of local grapes, light & crisp but I wonder how many fellow Wednesdayites were on the Vinho Verde.

Cheers
John

Last Updated: 04/12/2013

Author: Mitchells Wine