Spring is in the air and in Portugal’s vinho verde region the wine festivals will soon be in full swing. Two of my favourite wine festivals are those held at Monçao and Melgaço along the border with Spain’s Rias Baixas Albariño region.
These two towns are further inland than many of the other vinho verde regions and are protected from the cool wet ocean breezes coming off the Atlantic. The sunnier, drier weather gives a fuller bodied wine with lovely rounded stone fruit flavours and crisp minerality. These wines are fabulous with the huge range of local seafood !
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The first Festa do Alvarinho e do fumeiro is held in Melgaço, usually in April and after buying a tasting glass (and a rather fetching carrying pouch to hang around my neck !) I make a beeline for the wine booths set up around the huge marquee where enthusiastic wine makers are ready to share their passion for making Alvarinho and will gladly pour their latest creations into your glass. A slurp here, a chat there and it is soon time to head over to the charcuterie sections and grab a plate of presunto, chouriço, wonderful little rounds of cheese and broa, the local cornbread. As well as tasting delicious these delights sustain me as I work my way round the room.
Chatting to the different wine makers I have detected a certain rivalry with the other famous Alvarinho town a short distance to the west, Monçao. Intrigued, I wonder who does make the better Alvarinho ? It turns out that there are subtle differences in flavours which are said to be down to minor differences in ‘terroir’ between the flatter Monҫao to the west and the higher, steeper slopes around Melgaҫo further inland. This gives different levels of acidity and alcohol in the wines. The Monҫao wines are said to be riper with more tropical fruit flavours while the Alvarinhos from Melgaҫo have more acidic green apple flavours with less alcohol. Often producers blend from both to get the best result.
Late afternoon drifts pleasantly into early evening. Families turn up to watch the bands on nearby stages and then the younger crowd rocks in to enjoy a late night party with famous DJs spinning the decks until the small hours.
A trip to these Alvarinho wine festivals is highly recommended and the area is easily accessible from Porto. These beautiful and historic frontier towns are well set up for visitors and both have attractive Alvarinho tasting centres in Monҫao (Paco do Alvarinho) and Melgaҫo (Solar do Alvarinho).
To try delicious Alvarinho in your own home order a bottle of Adega de Moncao or Muralhas. Fantastic to enjoy on their own or with fish, shellfish and salads !
