Azores Wine Company Arinto Sur Lies 2018

  • 93 Robert
    Parker
4.4 Very Good (17)
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Azores Wine Company Arinto Sur Lies 2018  Front Bottle Shot
Azores Wine Company Arinto Sur Lies 2018  Front Bottle Shot Azores Wine Company Arinto Sur Lies 2018  Front Label

Product Details


Varietal

Region

Producer

Vintage
2018

Size
750ML

ABV
13%

Your Rating

0.0 Not For Me NaN/NaN/N

Somm Note

Winemaker Notes

Brilliant green-yellow. Explosive aromas of lime zest, lemon, green mango and sea spray on the nose. A weighty, concentrated palate with intense citrus and green tropical fruits overlaid with assertive, saline-inflected minerality. Incisive, laser-focused acidity runs through the mid palate, kept in balance by impressive mouth-filling richness. This is a structured, intense wine with capacity to age.

Fresh, very mineral and salty. The perfect partner for oysters and "cracas." Works well with grilled fish, salads and fresh seafood.

Professional Ratings

  • 93

    The 2018 Arinto dos Açores Sur Lies is unoaked, bone dry (half a gram of residual sugar) and comes in at 12.5% alcohol. As tends to happen, this is dramatically different than the regular Arinto. That flaunts its acidity and seems lively. This is rounder—almost as if it were oaked (but without the oaked flavors). It seems richer. There is plenty of acidity here too, but the acidity here is better integrated. As lush and mouth coating as this seemed at first, don't forget the power. Which one you prefer might be a matter of taste—or just how you intend to use them. At the moment, I'd take this one. Reasonable minds might differ. They both have some potential for improvement after they settle down more, but this seems more likely to improve. There were just 3,300 bottles produced. Rating: 93+

Azores Wine Company

Azores Wine Company

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Azores Wine Company, Portugal
Azores Wine Company Pico Mountain Winery Image

Portuguese winemaker António Maçanita (also the winemaker at FitaPreta in the Alentejo) founded Azores Wine Company in 2014 with his two partners, Paulo Machado and Filipe Rocha. Their sustainably-grown vineyards are less than 50m from the Atlantic, with truly breathtaking views.

Arinto dos Açores is a grape variety indigenous to the Azores that shares the acidity and potential for longevity of the mainland variety that shares its name, however, the two are not related. The characteristics of the grape variety, coupled with Pico’s unique terroir, impart incredible minerality, purity and unmistakable salinity to the wine.

The Portuguese archipelago of the Azores is home to a winemaking tradition that dates back to its colonization in the 15th century, wherein viticulture was introduced by Franciscan friars. This group of islands is home to a singular terroir and microclimate, one that draws close comparison to the island of Santorini. Like Santorini, the Azores are volcanic islands comprised entirely of black basalt. Pico, the main wine producing island where these vineyards are located, has such poor soil that the vineyard needs to be supplemented with soil from neighboring islands to support vine growth , and even with that, the yields are a fraction of what they are in the rest of the DOC. Additionally, the vineyards are grown in tiny plots (2-6 bush trained vines per square) protected on all sides by small walls called “currais” to ward off the strong winds that blow in from the north Atlantic, mere steps from the vineyards. At its peak, Pico was home to over 6,000 hA of vineyards. These are still there today, but are for the most part grown over by forests – only a handful of small family-owned vineyards remain outside the production of 3 main producers. Of these, Azores Wine Company is the clear leader at 116 hA of recovered vines.

Before phylloxera hit in the mid 19th century, the Azores were one of the most prolific growing areas in Europe. In 1852, total production was over 10,000,000 liters. By 1859, that production level was less than 25000 liters. As a stopgap, Isabella was planted. Since it is a hybrid of Vitis Vinifera and Vitis Labrusca (related to the “fox grapes” of the American South), it is resistant to phylloxera, and became a mainstay for rustic “house wine” production on the island. António has rescued an old plot of this unique varietal for a passion project, to show that this grape is capable of making spectacular wine.

What makes the Azores Wine Company unique? Their micro-production wines from the tiny island of Pico in the Azores is grown in volcanic basalt at sea level, less than 50m from the Atlantic. These wines are produced by one of the most talented winemakers of Portugal today, António Maçanita and 100+ vines lend concentration and intensity.

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A white Portugese variety documented mainly along coastal vineyards surrounding Bucelas and Lisbon, Arinto shows marked citrus qualities with more stone fruit as it ages. Somm Secret—When a blending ingredient in Vinho Verde, it is called Pedernã.

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Best known for intense, impressive and age-worthy fortified wines, Portugal relies almost exclusively on its many indigenous grape varieties. Bordering Spain to its north and east, and the Atlantic Ocean on its west and south coasts, this is a land where tradition reigns supreme, due to its relative geographical and, for much of the 20th century, political isolation. A long and narrow but small country, Portugal claims considerable diversity in climate and wine styles, with milder weather in the north and significantly more rainfall near the coast.

While Port (named after its city of Oporto on the Atlantic Coast at the end of the Douro Valley), made Portugal famous, Portugal is also an excellent source of dry red and white Portuguese wines of various styles.

The Douro Valley produces full-bodied and concentrated dry red Portuguese wines made from the same set of grape varieties used for Port, which include Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz (Spain’s Tempranillo), Touriga Franca, Tinta Barroca and Tinto Cão, among a long list of others in minor proportions.

Other dry Portuguese wines include the tart, slightly effervescent Vinho Verde white wine, made in the north, and the bright, elegant reds and whites of the Dão as well as the bold, and fruit-driven reds and whites of the southern, Alentejo.

The nation’s other important fortified wine, Madeira, is produced on the eponymous island off the North African coast.

ONYOBAZAR75_18_2018 Item# 542029

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