Soalheiro: Last of the Summer Wine
I am a huge fan of the wines of Soalheiro, so much so that when I am in Portugal the Soalheiro ‘classico’ is my house white. I have already posted notes on the 2024 vintage of Soalheiro tout court (or classico) on my website (alongside the 2017) but I have now received samples of more wines from the range along with background information on 2024 vintage and vinification.
The 2024 vintage marks the 50th Anniversary of the first vines being planted at Soalheiro. Today, this vineyard is at the centre of a patchwork of Alvarinho vineyards that extends to 16 ha with 150-200 families nearby making up what they term their ‘Viticulturalist Club’. This allows them to make a variety of different wines, all from the same grape, but from different plots categorised by their altitude, exposure, age of vines and soil type with differentiations in vinification. 2024 began with a wet winter (1500 mm between November and March), a late budburst and flowering at the end of a very wet month of May. June and July were dry which helped to prevent oidium, common in this part of the world. The daytime temperature in August peaked at 39.2oC but the nights were cool and the average temperature for the month was 14.8oC with the harvest beginning at the very end of the month. The harvest ‘exceeded expectations’ with ‘slow and balanced’ maturations producing wines with exceptional ‘purity, elegance and an intense aromatic and complex profile’. This certainly shows up in many of these wines which are remarkable in the way that they give a variety of different expressions to the Alvarinho grape.
All the wines are denominated Vinho Verde, Monção-Melgaço except where stated.
Allo 2024, Vinho Regional Minho ***/****
The entry-level wine from Soalheiro, a blend of 30% Alvarinho and 70% Alvarinho, hence the initials ‘ALLO’. The varieties ferment separately in stainless steel, developing on the lees before blending and early bottling: pale and delicate with the slightest leesy spritz, fresh, steely with a hint of green apple on the nose and on the palate, light, greengage fruit on a dry, delicate finish. Classic Vinho Verde in style with just 11.5% abv although this qualifies as a Vinho Regional. 16.5
Soalheiro Primeiras Vinhas 2024 ****/*****
Pure Alvarinho, from the oldest vines on the estate dating back to 1974. Mostly fermented in stainless steel, with 15% fermented in oak vessels - old barrels, a foudre and larger oak casks. “The philosophy is to have more lees contact through bâtonnage.” The wine ages for 6 months before bottling: this is a wine that greets you from the glass with its lovely pure, verging on aromatic Alvarinho aromas, apples, blossom, a hint of green sward; wonderfully, almost playfully lithe on the palate, ripe Coxes apple flavours with just a hint of creamy breadth mid-palate (that’s where the oak comes in) and on to the steely, bone dry finish. 13% abv. 18.5
Soalheiro Granit 2024 ****
Described on the label as their ‘mineral selection’, this comes from Alvarinho grown at high altitudes (c.400 metres above sea level). Fermentation in stainless steel takes place at a higher temperature than is usual (22°C). “This ensures that Alvarinho’s naturally fruity character does not outshine the delicate minerality that we look for in this wine”. The wine is subject to bâtonnage and ageing on the lees to develop the structure before bottling: the most delicate and fragrant of the wines on nose with lovely spring-like apple blossom aromas and, dare I say, steely-stony minerality; crisp, green and beautifully defined on the palate, lithe and linear with green apple acidity all the way through to a mouth-watering finish. 12.5% abv. 18
Soalheiro Nature 2024 ****
Organically cultivated Alvarinho subtitled ‘pur terroir’, fermented in stainless steel without the addition of sulphites and with a complete malolactic fermentation to ensures stability. The wine is bottled unfiltered, leaving some natural sediment. “This deposit plays an essential role in protecting the wine from oxidation and allowing it to age gently”. Mid-straw in colour and very slightly cloudy with a rather lovely, oxidative mealy quality and bruised apple on the nose; only 12% abv but combines bruised apple with a savoury bready breadth of flavour mid-palate leading to a precise yet long, stone-apple finish. 17.5
Soalheiro Cota 27 2024 ****
This is a new wine to me and is categorised by Soalheiro as an ‘innovation’: an Alvarinho originating from the lower levels of Monção and Melgaço, a number of small plots of vineyards on the south bank of the Minho River, where the soils are richer in clay. This wine starts fermentation in a French oak foudre and finishes in used 225-litre french oak barrels and in a stainless steel egg. The wine in the egg is subject to natural bâtonnage and the wine aged in barrel undergoes bâtonnage for 9 months on the finest lees. It ages for 6 months in bottle before release: this has a broader profile than the other wines in the range with a riper slightly citrusy character on the nose and palate despite being just 12% abv. Softer, peachy fruit without quite the same precision as some of the wines but with a lovely bright appley finish. 17
Soalheiro Reserva 2023 ****
Made from riper grapes at lower altitudes, with more tannin and less aromatic character tan some of the wines. Fermentation and ageing take place in French oak barrels (medium toast). Only 25% of the barrels are new with the rest from previous years, more than 20 years old. The Reserva ages in barrel for one year with the wine in contact with fine lees throughout ageing, and undergoing bâtonnage “to improve texture and complexity”. There is the merest hint of savoury oak on the nose, but not to the extent that it in anyway overwhelms the delicate Alvarinho fruit, ripe Coxes apple character with a sappy hint and a beautifully poised and precise linear finish. I am not normally a fan of oak, especially new oak, with Alvarinho but oak is used judiciously here and this really works. 12% abv. 18
