Quinta de Azevedo (Portugal) Vinho Verde 2007
The large Portuguese producer Sogrape owns this beautiful old estate in Vinho Verde, planted mainly to the Loureiro grape with some Pederna. Sogrape purchased the Quinta in 1982, and have been radically re-shaping the vineyards with new trellising to replace the old ‘pergola’ system and grafting or re-planting to their chosen varieties. The pristine, state of the art winery is formed from part of the old Quinta house, some of which dates from the 11th century. This is a crisp, breezy and contemporary take on Vinho Verde, with just 5g/l of residual sugar and a touch of added C02 to give it the barest petillance. It is beautifully fresh on the nose, with quite limpid pear fruit and just a. There’s a touch of waxy, leesy character and some floral aspects too. The palate has a little more richness, but a lemon rind bite and again a fine, verve and cut of acidity comes through, with persistent fruit. Deliciously quaffable – bring on the sunshine. £5.99, Waitrose. Also in Majestic and The Wine Society.
