Unearthing Vinhos Verdes

A crisp and sunny autumn day in Manchester provided the perfect backdrop to a recent Vinhos Verdes masterclass at Hakkapo restaurant, billed as revealing the ‘Surprising and Unexplored Diversity of a Classic Region’. Perfect, because while the unusually clement Northern weather underscored the general perception of this northern Portuguese region as being one of fresh, zippy wines, often with a slight spritz, this session took a deeper dive into the category. Its aim was to reveal the breadth of varieties and styles from this surprisingly multi-faceted DO.

Co-hosted by Master of Wine Dirceu Vianna Junior and UK sommelier of the year Philipp Reinstaller – and attended by a strong gathering of sommeliers from the likes of Restaurant Pine, Moor Hall, plus numerous other Northern dining hotspots besides – some 12 wines were poured, to the accompaniment of Japanese taster dishes. The wines focused on several of the DO’s 45 grape varieties (the looser GI Minho has 67), while spanning some of the nine sub-regions, with a superbly balanced 2009 Alvarinho for age-worthy good measure.

“The first thing to remember is that Vinho Verde is not a style of wine, it is a region, a very fragmented region, with 129,000 parcels of vines,” said Junior, by way of introduction.

He added that within the 120km DO stretch from the northern Minho river to the southern limit around Oporto, the predominantly granitic-based soils were also mixed up and cut through with “big slabs of schist, alluvial soils near the rivers, and sand”.

Moreover, from the flattish coastal vineyards by way of the inland rolling hills to the more mountainous hinterland, the climate ranges from Atlantic to more continental, lending yet more subtle variation in character to the wines produced.

“They do make simple wines, but there are also fantastic wines, many styles, a lot for diversity – it’s a small country but there is huge diversity of climate and huge diversity of soils,” said Junior.

The proof comes in the glass and as the wines were poured in pairs – each with a differing sushi, sashimi or nigiri bite – the diversity came through, with Reinstaller on hand to elaborate on each sample.

The assembled somms worked their way through the stylistic differences offered via pairs of single varietal examples of Avesso, Loureiro, Arinto, Azal, Alvarinho and an Alvarinho/Loureiro blend, with stylistic difference – even within each pairing – quite marked, depending on sub-region and winemaker. And, yes, to generalise, one common thread was a crisp, palate-enlivening acidity. But from youthful exuberance, by way of the aforementioned 2009, each variety revealed very distinct and different characteristics, often with good complexity.

AGEING POTENTIAL

Moreover, many of these wines quite clearly had an ability to age, especially in the case of the Alvarinhos – a quality not widely appreciated with regard to wines from Vinho Verde.

Having talked the tasters through the wines, Reinstaller explained why he had chosen to show them against Japanese food, saying: “These are very versatile wines with food, so pairing them with Japanese dishes reinforces the idea that they are compatible with more than just the excellent local cuisine in the region.”

Next up were two final red wines, namely an Alvarinho/Borraçal/Pedral/Vinhão blend and a single variety Vinhão, showing, respectively, a light and eminently quaffable style of red and a low-intervention crowd-pleaser with great vibrancy. Reinstaller also suggested that these were wines that could work with seafood, although a kakuni-braised pork belly dish was served on the day.

Once again, reds do not form part of the common perception of what Vinho Verde offers wine-wise, but they form a welcome 3% of the DO’s production (and rosés account for 9%). As with the whites, these fresh, naturally moderate-alcohol styles are spot on when it comes to the styles increasingly informing modern drinking trends.

Reinstaller then revealed that red wines, in fact, used to form a majority of Vinho Verde production until phylloxera hit in the early nineteenth century and, in an intriguing aside, that those earlier wines were also the first Portuguese wines to be exported to England, ahead of those of the Douro.

“There was a swift change to whites, [with] Loureiro and Alvarinho today being the biggest planted varieties,” he noted.

Nonetheless, Reinstaller said that reds have once again been on the march, adding to the kaleidoscope of styles offered up by this diminutive but ever-varied region.

All in all, it was a fascinating dive into the wines of this DO, with quality – and character – high across the flights and the food pairing compatibility shown to be high. The take-home message was clearly that modern Vinhos Verdes offer so much more than at first (for many) meets the eye. Put simply, these were very much somm-pleasing styles in all their appealing diversity.