Soalheiro Cota 27 2023
Region: Vinho Verde
Producer: Soalheiro
Cota 27 is an Alvarinho originating in the lower reaches of the Monção and Melgaço valleys, on small plots of vineyards on the left bank of the Minho River, where the soils are richer in clay. The interest in minerality, characteristic of this mountain Alvarinho, inspired Soalheiro to seek its riverside counterpart. It has an intense straw-yellow color with golden reflections, and is pure and bright. On the nose, it exudes aromas of ripe fruit, such as apple, plum, and lemon peel, with floral notes of acacia and elderflower. In the background, the mineral character, with a soft smoky touch, gives it great depth and elegance. On the palate, the wine is unctuous and broadly structured. It is elegant and complex. With volume and freshness in perfect balance, it has a long and lingering finish. The acidity is balanced and integrated, giving it a pleasant and subtle character.| Volume | 75.0 cl. |
| Grape Variety | Alvarinho |
| Drinking window | 2024-2030 |
| Serveren bij | From grilled langoustines, seafood rice, fish rice or oven-baked fish to oriental cuisine. |
| Alc. | 12.0% |
| Vinification | The grapes are harvested by hand. After pressing and before fermentation, the must is clarified at a low temperature. We start with a selection of Alvarinho grapes from plots next to the Minho River, in the lower levels of the Monção and Melgaço valley. This wine starts fermenting in a french oak foudre and finishes in used 225-litre french oak barrels and in a stainless steel egg. In the egg there is a natural bâtonnage and in the barrels it undergoes bâtonnage for 9 months on the finest lees. It ages for 6 months in the bottle. |
| Ripening | 9 months in foudre and 6 months in bottle |
Waar serveer je ’m bij?
Hand-harvested, the must cold-settled, and then a fermentation that begins in a French oak foudre and finishes in used 225-litre barrels and in steel — three vessels side by side, each with its own effect. Nine months in barrel and six months in bottle after that. That way of working gives an Alvarinho with texture and volume without the oak coming to the front: yellow fruit, a creamy mouth, and still the acid line of Melgaço underneath.
Roast poulard with dry-cured ham
Pappardelle with smoked halibut and peas
Serveren op 10–12 °C
Drink: 2026–2030
“The 2023 Cota 27 is an Alvarinho that expresses the terroir of the lower-altitude vineyards (below 27 meters in elevation) in Melgaço, close to the Minho River, where the soils are richer in clay. It fermented in an acacia wood foudre with indigenous yeasts and without temperature control, finishing in a concrete stainless steel egg and three used French oak barriques, where the wine matured for six months. The wine has a different profile from the ones from higher altitude; it's rounder and gentler, with notes of tangerine peel. The alcohol is a moderate 12%, and it has a pH of 3.43 and 5.2 grams of tartaric acid. It has mellow acidity, coming through as velvety and soft, with the wood neatly integrated and a velvety mouthfeel. 4,614 bottles produced. It was bottled in August 2024.”
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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