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Drinks Food & Drink

Why Portuguese table wine should be at the top of your go-to drink selection

Vinho verde, the young and often effervescent wine from northern Portugal, has been getting mighty chummy with my chalice lately. And, no, it’s not just because of sodden hours spent watching the Euro Cup. 

It’s generally innocuous and refreshing, with an alluring price tag (most bottles can be scored for well under $20, some for under $10), so it’s not hard to understand vinho verde’s popularity. But outside of a few cheap, frigid glasses downed with churrasqueira fare and maybe one more to cool down after my enthusiastic addition of piri piri, it’s never been a wine I’ve pounced on. I thought of it as basic industrial-grade Pinot Grigio. I wasn’t above it, just not interested. 

But this summer a couple of fresh Vintages picks that joined the few bargain brands standing sentinel on LCBO shelves (Gazela, Aveleda and the like), got me curious. As it turns out, I like white Portuguese table wine enough to label it this month’s booze fling. 

A hot-weather wine from a cool region bordering stormy Galicia, it’s called “verde,” or green, because of its youth. Sometimes it adopts a glimmer of its namesake hue, since most wines produced in the vinho verde region are white. 

The wines are meant to be consumed fresh, the best showcase for their eye-twitching acidity. The trademark prickliness or spritz, once the result of bottle fermentation, is now more commonly achieved through forced carbonation. Crispness aside, another charm of vinhos verdes is their humble alcohol content, which tends to sit around 9 to 11 per cent ABV: ideal aperitif territory.

Though vinhos verdes are typically blends, the emergence of more single-variety expressions is making the scene more intriguing. These usually have a few extra degrees of alcohol, and their steeliness elicits comparisons of other un-oaked whites like Chablis. Alvarihno

(or Albariño en español) is credited with making some of the best vinhos in the region. The balance of brightness and texture in Morgadio da Torre Alvarinho (see right) makes me want to hunt down as many of these wines as possible. 


What to drink right now!


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Morgadio da Torre Alvarinho Vinho Verde 2014

Rating: NNNN

Why Since Portugal’s vinho verde region snuggles up against Spain’s Rías Biaxas, it makes sense that there’s some crossover in varietals – you say Albariño, I say Alvarinho. This more stratified vinho verde tickles and wraps the palate in vivid acidity and silky elegance. Tastes like underripe pineapple, peach and crabapple, with lots of trademark citrus.

Price $17.95/750 ml

Availability Vintages 960955


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Aveleda Vinho Verde

Rating: NNN

Why It’s clean, simple and criminally easy to down, and the frizzante finish and attractive price tag on this citrusy vinho make it a great everyday aperitif and top-notch pool pop.

Price $10.05/750 ml

Availability LCBO 5322


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Casal de Ventozela Espadeiro Rosé 2015 

Rating: NNNN

Why This is a wine that I could drink every damn day this summer. There was a lot of laughter in the course of downing this bottle, and everyone was genuinely disappointed when it dried up, so grab an armful if you can find it. Fresh and generous, with a scintillating spritz. 

Price $13.95/750 ml

Availability Vintages 450841

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