{"product_id":"mendes-symington-contacto-alvarinho-2025","title":"Mendes \u0026 Symington Contacto Alvarinho 2025","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(255, 42, 0);\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e$19.99\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(255, 42, 0);\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e on 6+ (use code: 6saves2)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"mnmd-review__top\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"mnmd-review__product media\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(184, 5, 5);\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e90+ pts Wine Advocate\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eDrink Date: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e2026 - 2030\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"mnmd-review__summary\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 2025 Contacto Alvarinho is part of a joint venture with the Symington family. This is named after the contact with the skins, which is quite short anyway—and not for all the volume—but seems to add some oomph in lighter vintages. It fermented and matured in stainless still with neutral yeasts and was bottled after three months with the lees. It's pale, young and primary. It comes in at 12.5% alcohol, with a pH of 3.05 and 6.7 grams of acidity and some lightness. 360,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in January 2026.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eS\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eerious\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Vinho Verde, particularly Alvarinho, is a much more complex and layered wine than what most people think of Vinho Verde. Today's wine \"Contacto\" gets it's name for the time the wine gets \"in contact\" with the grape skins. While short and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003enot an orange\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ewine at all\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, it adds textural and flavor dimension most Vinho Verdes all lack and puts this wine at the top of many people's choices for top white wines from Portugal. In fact, if all goes according to plan, wines from the region this wine hails from (Monção \u0026amp; Melgaço) will get their own DOC and no longer have to be associated with Vinho Verde. The quality level is so good on average from here that the lower price association of Vinho Verde is holding back the ability for wines like today's to fetch higher and more deserving prices (\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eyour advantage here folks\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e). The Bouca wines below fall into a different sub-region with different grapes, but the commitment to high quality is the same!\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"One famous producer of Alvarinho Vinho Verde is Anselmo Mendes, who has been making a range of both Alvarinho and Loureiro wines since 1998, although they have only been available in the U.S. for the past several years.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"The Anselmo Contacto Alvarinho was in a class by itself, beautifully balanced with an impressive and persistent mineral note. Like their fruity, fun counterparts, these dry Vinho Verdes were a pleasure to drink, even more so with food, especially seafood.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"Anselmo Mendes is a star of Vinho Verde for his many successful winemaking experiments. One such foray is this skin-contact Alvarinho (\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003ethus the name Contacto\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e)—fermenting wine is allowed \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003esome\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003econtact with the grape skins, lending texture and depth—a rich and well-balanced white with a powerful mineral persistence.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e- Lettie Teague, Wall Street Journal\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eI used to buy and drink a lot of Contacto, the original version from Anselmo Mendes years ago. 2011-2015 vintages were always around the house in the summer up until I moved to NC where the wine was no longer available. Fast forward 6 years and a new collaboration with the Symington Family has brought this new version to NC. This is a new Contacto from a single vineyard that Anselmo personally picked out that is not available anywhere except here and a few select big markets at the moment, and there it is mostly in restaurants. Fresh, piquant, with excellent energy from the fresh and mineral character of the wine, this is a no brainer for the summer.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"bt-1 py-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"fw-bold\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eProvenance: \u003c\/strong\u003eMonção and Melgaço\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"bt-1 py-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"fw-bold\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eGrape: \u003c\/strong\u003e100% Alvarinho\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"bt-1 py-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"fw-bold\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAlcohol:\u003c\/strong\u003e 12.5 %\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"bt-1 py-8\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"bt-1 py-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"fw-bold\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMaturation method: \u003c\/strong\u003eMinimum 3 month ageing on fine lees with regular bâtonnage.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"bt-1 py-8\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"bt-1 py-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"fw-bold\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eWinemaking: \u003c\/strong\u003eHandpicked grapes into small boxes and carried to the winery in a short period of time. Total de-stemming with a short skin maceration. Cold clarification at 12ºC. Fermentation with controlled velocity and temperature.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"fw-bold\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e \u003cspan\u003eContacto Alvarinho is obtained from the noble Alvarinho grape variety grown exclusively in the sub-region of Monção and Melgaço. The location of this sub-region provides it with a temperate climate, being surrounded by a range of mountains on the Spanish and Portuguese borders, which allow us a unique combination between precipitation, temperature and light required for the perfect maturation of the grapes. For the production of this wine, vineyards were selected near the river with granite soils of sandy loam texture. Located at low altitude, with alluvium and fluvial terraces well present, offering the wine the complexity and minerality typical of the variety.\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c!-- --\u003e","brand":"Vihno Verde","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67630278967430,"sku":"TRY-ContactoAlv25","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0075\/0338\/0543\/files\/Mendes_SymingtonContactoAlvarinho.png?v=1763923520","url":"https:\/\/www.winesolutions.com\/products\/mendes-symington-contacto-alvarinho-2025","provider":"Wine Solutions","version":"1.0","type":"link"}