Anselmo Mendes Vinho Verde Muros Antigos 2012
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Wine & Spirits
Anselmo Mendes makes wines to age, tending this for six months on the fine lees to build its juicy richness. The ripe fruit runs from sweet pear to something almost tropical, hinting at guava, while there’s always a smoky earthen character and an edge of acidity clipping it. A creamy and powerfully structured vintage, this should be best with another year or two in bottle.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a deliciously fresh, yet also rounded and rich wine. Creamed apples and soft pears go with a lime juice crispness, resulting in a wine that is ripe, fruity and delicately acidic. Drink now.
With hundreds of white grape varieties to choose from, winemakers have the freedom to create a virtually endless assortment of blended white wines. In many European regions, strict laws are in place determining the set of varieties that may be used in white wine blends, but in the New World, experimentation is permitted and encouraged. Blending can be utilized to enhance balance or create complexity, lending different layers of flavors and aromas. For example, a variety that creates a soft and full-bodied white wine blend, like Chardonnay, would do well combined with one that is more fragrant and naturally high in acidity. Sometimes small amounts of a particular variety are added to boost color or aromatics. Blending can take place before or after fermentation, with the latter, more popular option giving more control to the winemaker over the final qualities of the wine.
A cheerful, translucid, lemon-yellow and slightly pétillant white wine, Vinho Verde literally means ‘green wine’ and is named after the northwest Portugese region from which it originates. The ‘green’ in the name refers to the youthful state in which the wines are customarily released and consumed, not the color of the wine.
It is typically a blend of various percentages of Alvarinho, Loureiro, Trajadura, and Pedernã (Arinto). Following initial alcoholic fermentation, a natural, secondary malolactic conversion in cask produces carbon dioxide, giving Vinho Verde its charmingly light sparkle.