Valados de Melgaço
Valados de Melgaço is an important producer in the Vinho Verde region of northern Portugal. Valados is part of a new wave of Vinho Verde producers, overturning the reputation of the region as one simply making spritzy, light, insubstantial wines from unripe grapes. In the premium Monçao e Melgaço subregion, Valados makes 100% Alvarinho (i.e. Albariño) of great concentration and ageworthiness. The ambition of these new-wave Vinho Verde producers is simple: to compete with the best of the cool climate, fresh wines of northern Europe. Valados is well on the way to achieving that goal.
The Wines
We import the main wine of the estate, the Alvarinho vintage, as well as the Reserva. The vintage Alvainrho is a wine of considerable vibrancy, lightness of touch and salty complexity. The Reserva, produced from the best free run juice, shows additional concentration and a deep mineral core, and will continue to improve for 4-5 years after the vintage, developing petrolly, mineral notes. Compared to Spain’s Albariño, expect a less fruity and more salty, savory, mineral style.
Alvarinho 2022 Tech Sheet | Label | Bottle Shot
Alvarinho Reserva 2021 Tech Sheet | Label | Bottle Shot
The Monçao e Melgaço subregion makes up only a small part of the overall Vinho Verde appellation, but is renowned for the quality of its wines. Located on granite slopes above the Minho river (which forms the border between northern Portugal and Spain’s Rias Baixas region), the subregion sits in an amphitheater of hills. The effect is to shelter the region from the cooling effects of the nearby Atlantic ocean (day time temperatures go up to 30 deg C/86 deg F) while also experiencing cool nights (12 deg C/55 deg F). This combination ensures both ripeness and vibrant acidity.
Alvarinho is considered the most important and finest variety of Vinho Verde and Monçao e Melgaço specifically, even though various other indigenous varieties are also cultivated. The salty, dry wines show much of the fruit of the Albariño over the border in Rias Baixas, Spain, but with a little more mineral undertow. These are elementally savory, bright wines, with a medium or even full body, a far cry from the spritzy, simple Vinho Verde wines of old.
Previously selling their grapes, the Meleiro family established Valados in 2013 and today the estate is managed by Artur Meleiro, with the help of two consultant winemakers. The wine is made within 150 feet of the Minho river (the Spanish border). ‘Valados’ means ‘parcels’ and the family work 14 separate parcels of vines around Monçao e Melgaço. They own 4ha (10 acres) (Quinta de Golâes, the original family estate) and buy fruit from another 3ha (7.5 acres). Valados wines have been widely critically acclaimed since the foundation of the winery, and this is the first time they have been distributed to retailers and restaurants in the USA.
