Soalheiro Espumante Bruto Alvarinho
Region: Espumante
Producer: Soalheiro
The cool north of Portugal is ideally suited for producing sparkling wines. Naturally, Soalheiro uses Alvarinho for this—the very grape with which the winery is synonymous and which yields the region's most complete wines. They employ the *méthode traditionnelle* and allow the wine ample time to age on the lees, resulting in fine bubbles with real substance.| Volume | 75.0 cl. |
| Grape Variety | Alvarinho |
| Drinking window | 2026-2029 |
| Alc. | 12.5% |
| Vinification | The creation of a sparkling from the Alvarinho variety first requires a careful selection of grapes with the right level of acidity. The grapes are pressed, and the resulting must ferments under controlled temperature, yielding the base wine. Following the traditional method of sparkling wine production, the wine undergoes a second fermentation in the bottle. In the cellar, the wine ages in constant low temperature for several months, developing a sparkling wine that showcases all the elegance of Alvarinho. Following the second fermentation they proceed to the disgorging, where they eliminate the yeast in the bottle and replace the provisional metal stopper for a traditional sparkling cork. |
| Ripening | It ages for several months in the cellar at a low and constant temperature. |
Waar serveer je ’m bij?
To make a sparkling wine from Alvarinho you first have to select the grapes on acidity, and that is exactly what Soalheiro does: only the plots with the right acidity go into this wine, which then ages for some months cool and at a constant temperature in the cellar. The cool north of Portugal is excellently suited to that. What you get is the peach and the saline minerality of Alvarinho, but with a bubble underneath — and that makes it suitable for fried and spiced snacks that a still Alvarinho has more trouble with.
Tuna in a sesame crust
Nasi goreng with egg and cucumber
Serveren op 7–9 °C
In 1982, the Cerdeira family was the first to rejoin the tradition of quality wines based on the local Alvarinho grape. João Antonio Cerdeira planted the first vines to that end in 1974, and it is those old vines that still provide the grapes for the top cuvée 'Primeiras Vinhas' today.
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