The Soalheiro Clássico 2024 vintage is “one of the most exciting in recent years”
A wine with a unique history that represents the family viticulture of Alvarinho in Monção and Melgaço, born in a family garage and being today the fruit of many – the Soalheiro family – it was recently certified by the National Reference for Sustainability.
Soalheiro Clássico was born in 1982, and it is the greatest symbol of the first Alvarinho brand in Melgaço, a timeless profile with an intense flavor, aromatic freshness and remarkable ability to age in the bottle. The 2024 vintage is another chapter in this story that is renewed with each harvest and is the result of a cycle that has balanced itself – autumn and winter were quite rainy, while August was the driest in the last five years. As usual, in Monção and Melgaço, in this unique microclimate within the Vinho Verde region, maturation benefited from remarkable thermal amplitudes (in August the average daily thermal amplitude was 14.8 ºC) and according to Soalheiro’s winemaker, Asun Carballo, produced wines that surprised:
“This year surprised us with wines of exceptional quality. The grapes matured slowly and in a balanced manner, resulting in wines with energy and freshness, characterized by their purity and elegance, intense and complex aromatic profile, and lively and refreshing acidity that gives them great persistence on the palate. It’s one of the most exciting harvests in recent years.”
The Soalheiro Viticulturists’ Club currently gathers around 200 families, which means many more plots of Alvarinho with unique history and characteristics (age of the vines, altitude, soil type, sun exposure, and so on), making the Soalheiro harvest a complex process – starting with hundreds of maturation controls and a differentiated harvest marking, respecting the diversity of the vines and directing them to different vinification and vessels, so that the winery can fulfil the purpose of creating wines that reflect the diversity of the territory in an increasingly precise way. A meticulous work, because even when the focus is restricted only to the vineyards in the valley, where the grapes for Soalheiro Clássico come from, the diversity is great and seen as an added value:
“Each plot was the star of this extraordinary harvest. The coolest ones offered grapes with striking acidity and vibrant citrus notes, while the ones most exposed to the sun brought body and structure. For me, this is an unforgettable year, for its aromatic complexity, purity and precision, and for its potential for aging in the bottle that promises to span generations.”
The first wine sustainability certification in Monção and Melgaço
In December 2024, Soalheiro became the first brand in Monção and Melgaço to be certified by the National Reference for Sustainability, the most important national certification in the wine sector. For Maria João Cerdeira, part of Soalheiro management, this is a recognition of a path that began in the vineyard and in the family garage and has expanded to include many other families:
“Soalheiro’s sustainability strategy has always existed, long before the word was popular. Involvement with the community is part of our identity, as is the desire to protect and value the uniqueness of this territory that we do not want to leave. This certification makes us very proud as it is the recognition of the work of many people, of our team’s passion and desire to innovate, of the Viticulturists’ Club dedication and knowledge, of the work of the Soalheiro family.”
With the aim of promoting family winemaking of Alvarinho in Monção and Melgaço, which in this smallholding area is a supplementary source of income for many families that helps to create alternatives to moving to the coast and emigrating, Soalheiro’s sustainability strategy has created several projects in recent years. Giving as an example the reduction in weight in packaging in which the brand pioneered in the territory in 2020, having since then reduced the glass used in bottles by more than 19% and the cardboard used in boxes by more than 39%, Maria João Cerdeira describes the team’s view of sustainability as a virtuous circle:
“The reduction in the weight of bottles and boxes that we have carried out over the last few years, in addition to the reduction in the use of glass and cardboard, as well as emissions in transport, has a direct economic impact that we integrate into the value chain, contributing, for example, to the valorization of the Alvarinho grape among the more than 200 families of the Viticulturists’ Club, which in this period was 30%. For us, this is an example of how thinking about the concept of sustainability in a circular way can bring several benefits to the Soalheiro family, the region and the planet.”
Soalheiro Alvarinho (CLÁSSICO) 2024
