A wine that screams Eagles green
This Vinho Verde is a little different: Quinta de Gomariz is one of the region’s leading quality-focused wineries, whose wines tend to be drier and more complex than their peers.
Quinta de Gomariz Vinho Verde Loureiro
Minho, Portugal
$11.99
11.5% alcohol
PLCB Item #100034750
Sale price through March 2, regularly $13.99
We’re calling an audible this week to recommend a wine suitable for painting this town green. Beer drinkers may start tinting their drinks green a month early this week, but wine drinkers can settle for drinking a white wine whose name — Vinho Verde — means “green wine” and that tastes decidedly green as well.
Vinho Verde is a style from northern Portugal’s Minho region. Its formal appellation — Vinho Verde D.O.C. — refers to the wine’s style instead of naming its region. Few wines are as immediately recognizable as a Vinho Verde, whose closest wine cousin is the Txakolinas of Spain’s Basque Country. What makes both styles stand out is that they do well in wine spritzers.
Vinhos Verde wines contain roughly 25% less alcohol than most wines and feature boatloads of mouth-tingling acidity as well as a tickle of carbonation. These are traits associated with underripe grapes — and that’s where the “green wine” name comes from. The grapes are harvested while they are still “green.” The Minho is a vast low-lying area along the cool Atlantic Coast that has a moist and cloudy climate that’s a bit like that of Seattle. As a result, fruit struggles to ripen before the autumn rains come, leading vintners to make these quirky, refreshing wines. Most are cheap and cheerful, often with a touch of sugar to offset their acidity.
This one is wildly different, though, and more appealing to serious wine lovers. Quinta de Gomariz is one of the region’s leading quality-focused wineries and their wines tend to be drier and more complex than their peers. This cuvée tastes even greener than the rest, but not because it is less ripe. If anything, these grapes had longer hang time on the vine, resulting in alcohol content that is marginally higher than the average Vinho Verde. What makes this wine scream Eagles green in the glass is that it is made with 100% Loureiro, a grape known for its herbaceous scents of bay leaves, rosemary, and lime. Not every Pennsylvania wine store carries this item, so it’s worth checking online for inventory in your area at www.finewineandgoodspirits.com.
No alternate locations within 50 miles of Philadelphia, according to www.Wine-Searcher.com