Atlantic Wine Regions Delight with Golden Assortment | FeaturesAtlantic Wine Regions Delight with Golden Assortment

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A wave of investment in both Galicia and Vinho Verde is causing historic changes in the green borderland of Spain and Portugal.

Luis Cerdeira, winemaker at Portuguese wine producer Soalheiro, looks at the vineyards of Spanish producer Vega Sicilia nearby and shrugs. Soalheiro has been making wines from the Alvarinho (Albariño in Spanish) variety for more than 40 years, but Cerdeira isn't worried about a new influx of investors in the heartland of Alvarinho, which spans the Portuguese-Spanish border on both sides of the Minho River. "Our neighbors are not our competition. In the U.S., for example, our competition is the proliferation of other white wines such as Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin and Riesling," Cerdeira says. "The big producers coming here create additional value, it's a positive premiumization trend. "

Soalheiro is located in the Monsaño and Melgasu sub-region, which contains about 75 percent of Alvarinho's plantings in the Vinho Verde region. Competition here has increased following recent acquisitions by Douro wineries including Symington Family Estates, Fladgate Partnership and Falua. On the other side of the Minho River in Spain, Vega Sicilia, Familia Torres, CVNE, Matarromera, Sherpa Capital, owner of Terra Cellars winery, and Hijos J Rivera, owner of giant beer brand Estrella Galicia, have acquired seven Galician wineries in the last 18 months.

"The arrival of major players in Rias Baixas, which is mainly due to climate change, has had positive effects on the Spanish side of the border. Real estate values have gone up, and prices for Alvarinho grapes per kilo have also gone up. They have created more value and internationalized wine production in Rias Baixas. I believe the same will happen first in Monsagno and Melgaso and then in the whole Vinho Verde region," says renowned Portuguese winemaker and Alvarinho expert, Anselmo Mendes.

In May this year, Mendes entered into a joint venture with Dora giant Symington Family Estates, which acquired the historic 27.5-hectare Casa de Rodas estate in December 2022. The joint venture involves Contacto Mendes' wine.

The evolution of wine styles on both sides of the Minho shows how a surge of interest and increased competition among producers has led to more experimentation, a desire for greater precision in wine production and the use of different methods of wine making and aging. Mendez says that Monsaño and Melgasu, as well as the neighboring sub-region of Rias Baixas, Condado de Tea, share the same microclimate, allowing producers to create more complex and deeper wines with a fuller body compared to the acidic and fruity Albariño varietal wines produced in the Rias Baixas areas close to the Atlantic Sea. In contrast to inland producers, Rias Baixas producers closer to the coast are known for their use of lactic acid fermentation to reduce acidity levels, although in recent warm years some producers have begun to reduce or discontinue this practice. The cheaper younger wines of Vinho Verde (except Monsagno and Melgasu Alvarinho) tended to be light and sparkling, but in recent years many have become more balanced and concentrated with less residual sugar.