Soalheiro Nature 2024

Quinta de Soalheiro makes this natural Albariño in Vinho Verde, in the town of Melgaço at the northern edge of the Minho, right on the Spanish border. The Cerdeira family founded the winery in 1982 to champion Albariño in Portugal, and Melgaço is one of the warmest, driest pockets of Vinho Verde, which lets the grape ripen fully while the region's Atlantic influence keeps the acidity high. This is a natural wine, farmed organically and made with minimal intervention, so it carries the fruit and the site with little between them and the glass. It is pale in the glass, with lime, green apple, white peach and a saline, herbal edge. The palate is fresh and precise, dry and mineral, the citrus and orchard fruit driven by taut Atlantic acidity to a clean finish with the faint texture of a wine made without heavy filtration. Serve it at 8 to 10 degrees. It is very good with shellfish, white fish, goat cheese and green salads.