A special wine revealing the elasticity of Alvarinho
Soalheiro : : Wine
Soalheiro Alumni 2017
António Luís Cerdeira, our winemaker, is an alumni of Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), where he studied oenology. Soalheiro Alumni was created at the invitation of UTAD in 2017 and includes “a little bit of all the Alvarinhos that allowed us to get to know the grape variety”. It is a complex blend of the different winemaking styles and expressions of Alvarinho produced during our 2017 vintage. Therefore, more than wine, Alumni is the vision of Alvarinho as a whole experience, placed in a bottle and representing 25 years of oenology knowledge.
Region: Monção and Melgaço, Vinho Verde DOC
Alcohol (%): 13,0
Total Acidity (g/dm3): 5,6
Residual Sugar: Dry
Grape Varieties: Alvarinho
pH: 3,42
Volatile Acidity (g/dm3): 0,31
(The values are approximate)
Soalheiro Alumni especially complements Mediterranean cuisine such as seafood, grilled fish, or oven-baked fatty fish. It also pairs well with delicate Asian dishes, such as sushi or dumplings, as well as poultry dishes and mature cheeses.
This wine has a bright, lemon-yellow colour. It begins with earthy and stony flavours but exhibits truffle and honey notes with bottle aging. Alumni has a full body with a great final complexity.
As a blend of several expressions of Alvarinho, Alumni conveys the varied traits of the varietal that can come from our Territory. Grapes from the different altitudes of Monção and Melgaço express different dimensions of Alvarinho. In our fruity, mineral, natural, and sparkling families of wines we embody these differences. A major particularity of the microclimate of Monção and Melgaço is the protection of the grapes by the surrounding mountain range. These mountains shield the vines from Atlantic influence, helping to protect the precursor aromas of Alvarinho and, as a result, produce wines with great aromatic and flavour complexity. The granitic soils, especially at higher altitudes, function as drainage and allow the vines to develop deep root systems, accumulating minerals.
This wine is a blend of all the dimensions of Alvarinho produced in the 2017 harvest. Alumni was produced through several different methods: stainless steel fermentation, cement egg fermentation, and barrel fermentation. After fermentation, the different expressions were carefully blended and bottled.
Story
“At Soalheiro I try to push the expression of ’Pur Terroir’ to the limit, creating very different dimensions of wines from the same variety. This UTAD Alumni is special to me, it results from the batch of all these dimensions of Alvarinho produced in the 2017 harvest and therefore brings together continuous learning that started at home with the family, continued in life and at school, consolidated at UTAD, and continues today and every day!”
Luis Cerdeira.
