Loureiro Vinhas Velhas - Vinho Verde

This elegant 100% Loureiro wine comes from a plot south of Ponte de Lima where the best Loureiro grow. The wine was aged for 6 months in used Puligny-Montrachet barriques and only 926 bottles were filled.

The wine is complex, rich and concentrated. It is fruity, carried by a nice refreshing acidity. It shows aromas of citrus fruits such as lime and tangerine, as well as light tropical notes of maracujà (passion fruit). It is also mineral, slightly salty on the tongue and has a long finish.

As a winemaker, Márcio Lopes really only intervenes as much as is absolutely necessary and trusts as much as he can in the natural processes of winemaking. For example, he lets his wines ferment exclusively with natural yeasts and - like many of the producers we work with - he firmly believes that if the grapes are of the right quality, he can produce excellent and harmonious quality wines that have the character reflect their terroir. And he seems to be doing quite well with it: Márcio Lopes' wines are unmistakably fresh and lively and are characterized without exception by bright and clear typical varietal aromas. They are present and clean, with crisp acidity and balanced texture. This makes the wine the ideal accompaniment to seafood and dishes with a creamy sauce.

• Vintage: 2019
• Varieties: 100% Loureiro
• Alcohol content: 12.5% ​​vol.
• Total acidity: 6.8 g/L
• Production area: Ponte de Lima
• Residual sugar: 2.5 g/L
• pH: 3.26
• free SO2: 25 mg/L
• Terroir: granite
• Contains sulphites
• Vinification: After manual harvesting and transport to the winery in small crates (18kg - 20kg), the grapes were destemmed and macerated for 4 hours. This was followed by a light pressing and decantation (48 hours). Fermentation at controlled temperature (14 - 15°C) for 15 days. Aging for 6 months in used Puligny-Montrachet barriques on the lees with batonnage.

Marcio Lopes: The Rising Star in Vinho Verde.

Márcio Lopes was born in Porto in 1983 and spent many summer holidays with his grandparents in the hinterland of Porto where they grew corn and wheat and also produced wine. At the age of 6, his grandmother put him in a lagar (traditional Portuguese granite basin used for winemaking) to stomp the grapes inside, as is still traditionally done today. This was the first of many many wines that young Márcio has since produced. The rest is history...

A year before graduating in Agricultural Engineering in 2006, Márcio started working with the famous winemaker Anselmo Mendes in Melgaço. In 2008 he went to Australia, where he was responsible for two classes in Rutherglen and Tasmania. In 2010 he started his own project “Pequenos Rebentos” (Portuguese for “little offspring”) in the Minho region, home of the Vinhos Verdes.

Manufacturer: Marcio Lopes, Unipessoal, Lda. Rua da Barranha 797, 4460-256 SENHORA DA HORA, Portugal