Variety: 100% Antao Vaz
Region: Alentejo/Albernôa, Portugal
Cost: $12 (SRP)
Winemaker’s Notes: Antao Vaz Monte de Peceguina 2016 is a white wine that allows us to distinguish this grape in a version with good exuberance. Ripe fruit quite present and freshness is a constant with tropical notes and orange peel, all well outlined. It fills the palate with flavour, structured with the fruit making good presence in a wide profile and with a dry and prolonged end.
My Review: It seems fitting that since a while back I got the chance to try several red wines from Portugal that now I should do several whites. Offered the chance to try four different wines featuring Antao Vaz I jumped at the opportunity – I always like to try new wines and new grapes. I started out with the 2016 Malhadinha Antao Vaz da Peceguina as it was the only one that was 100% Antao Vaz and I wanted to have that flavour in my mind as I tasted the others.
In the glass, the wine was a light golden straw colour with streaks of green showing when held up to the light. On the nose I picked up aromas of lime and apple with a hint of nutmeg and spice. In the mouth the wine was tart, almost borderline bitter at first sip, with a forward note of gooseberry. As the wine opened and warmed, notes of lime came forward, adding a touch of acid.
My wife and I paired the wine with shrimp tacos and it went well enough, the acid in the wine providing a nice balance to the fish.
Overall I liked, but didn’t love this wine. My wife, on the other hand, definitely didn’t enjoy it at all; the flavours just didn’t gel for her.
Editor’s Note: I received this wine as a free sample for review.
