Curtimenta Alvarinho, 'Moda Antiga' 2019
Region: Vinho Verde
Producer: Anselmo Mendes
What makes this wine unique is the skin soaking during fermentation. More and more winemakers are returning to the old practice of soaking the skins in the juice for several hours prior to fermentation, but very few venture into skin soaking during fermentation. Anselmo Mendes ferments the juice in wooden barrels (only a limited number of barrels are renewed each year so that the influence of wood flavour on the wine remains small). The skins remain with the juice for the first 2 days of fermentation, giving off a lot of additional flavour components that are discarded with the skins in most white wines.With the name 'moda antiga' given to this special cuvée of Alvarinho, Anselmo Mendes refers to the vinification techniques used by previous generations. Here, the process of skin soaking during fermentation was a notable difference from the modern way of making white wine (today, the skins are usually separated from the juice immediately or remain soaked in the juice for a few hours at most before fermentation begins while the must is firmly chilled).
| Volume | 75.0cl |
| Grape Variety | Alvarinho |
| Drinking window | 2024-2026 |
| Alc. | 13.0% |
| Vinification | in used barrels with skin contact during the first days of fermentation |
| Ripening | 9 months in used oak barrels |