Azores Wine Company Arinto dos Açores 2019, White, Pico

€ 26.95

Clean citrus yellow color. Pure mineral aroma, citrus with notes of grapefruit. Tense, fresh attack with a very present minerality and acidity, good persistence and saline notes.

An irrepressibly mineral nose of smoky, mineral black basalt that immediately reminded me of a Pfalz Riesling vineyard which also features that terroir, Forster Pechstein. Pours a very golden, honeyed yellow. Lithe, tensile, and energetic. Such a wonderful, cerebral wine which still beckons you for another sip. It’s extremely saline and round, but dry and graham cracker-y (or perhaps honeycomb). It feels like it just wants to be a Fino sherry to me on some level, but it’s already brilliant in this format. Aromatically, it keeps opening to reveal fresh sliced fennel, Parmesan rind, thyme … and I’ll stop there. It just kept evolving over a couple hours. The winemaker, Antonio Macanita, is committed to reviving antique varieties and paying a fair, living wage to each and every employee in his company, all the way down to the workers in the surreal volcanic vineyard sites, walled off to protect the vines from ocean wind in currais.

Azores Wine Company was started in 2014 by partners Felipe Rocha, Paulo Machado and Antonio Maçanita. The main aim of this project is to make the unique character of these wines, often with a pronounced saltiness, known worldwide. In addition, a lot of attention is also paid to cultivating and especially preserving indigenous grape varieties such as terrantez do pico, arinto dos açores and others.

Food-Pairing

Fresh, very mineral and salty. Ideal partner for oysters, barnacles and clams. It also works with grilled fish, salads and fresh seafood.

Grapes: 100% Arinto dos Açores

Arinto dos Açores is a unique grape varietal native to the Azores Islands. Although it shares the same name and good acidity of the mainland Arinto, the grapes are not related

Fermented in barrel. Aged 6 months on the lees.

The vines are grown on small volcanic black rocks (biscoitos) and surrounded by stone walls called currais. The rocks heat up in the sun, helping the grapes ripen, while the walls protect the vineyards from the elements. The Azores, an island chain in the middle of the Atlantic, has what you might call an “extreme maritime climate.” And of course, Mount Pico is always visible in the background. This dormant volcano (last eruption 1970) is Portugal’s highest point.

Alcoholcontent

12% vol

Store & Serve

Serve at 10 - 12 ºC

Awards & Critics

Tags: Azores, Pico