2016 Parcela Unica Alvarinho
Market price
Buying options
Tasting notes
100% Alvarinho grown on pebbly, alluvial soil of granitic origin with a high sand, medium clay and low silt content. High porosity and low organic content. Destemmed but not crushed, the grapes were pressed whole berry. Fermented in new 400-litre very light-toast French oak barrels, where the wine aged for 9 months on gross lees with stirring. Released following 12 months' bottle-ageing.(The 2022 vintage was made in partnership with the Symingtons.) TA 6.9 g/l. Beautifully aromatic: fresh apricots and citrus. Savoury, creamy and yet deliciously fresh. Better if decanted and served in decent-sized glasses, ie needs aeration. There’s a leesy grip, no obvious oak, just a creamy roundness. Immense purity, precision and length. Incredibly youthful, restrained and pure. Dry, fresh and salty on the finish. The suggested pairing was with roasted chicken, truffle and creamy polenta, though we tasted it with a duck spring roll and plum sauce, which was fine but not exceptional. (JH)
Critic scores
Average Score
Tamlyn Currin, jancisrobinson.com
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
More reviews and scores
Tasted out of clunky Airbnb wine glasses, this salt-and-lime wine with its rim of toasted-polenta oak and white-bone-spine stab of acidity nevertheless managed to communicate power, intensity and persistence. Laurel leaf notes gave a delicate green and herbal fragrance over a caper-like salty bite while it skated on the very cusp of bitterness. Wonderful with open-fire cooked sardines dressed with nothing but Madeiran lemons (which really do taste different) and Madeiran spinach. (TC)
The 2016 Parcela Única is an Alvarinho aged for nine months in new French oak. It comes in at 13% alcohol. There was a time when Mendes principally had this and the Curtimenta as the high-end and oaked alternatives. This is always a bit woodier, which hasn't always been to its advantage, but over the years, it's done a better job of handling it. So, too, this year. The new wood gives it a toasty nuance, and the toasty oak stands out far more here than on its key competitor, the Curtimenta. Right now, Curtimenta shows far better. That's the usual demeanor of both of them. This seems more like a white Burgundy than Vinho Verde, while the Curtimenta still leans to Vinho Verde, if a very concentrated and powerful one. The Parcela Única has hints of surprising purity and concentration of fruit, plus fine acidity lifting the fruit and slicing the wood. The fruit is rich enough to make this even seem a little unctuous at times. It is probably the deepest and most powerful of Mendes' wines this year, but it simply has not come together yet. Young, unevolved and still working things out, this is another wonderful Parcela Única, but it will likely be better this time next year—or in 2020. Tasted again the next day, it was still a little too woody, but in far better balance. On the third day, it was brilliant and had edged in front of the Curtimenta. Do yourself a favor and hold this for another year or two—there's no rush. This should hold for around 15 years, maybe more. (Note that there was a typo on the 2015—which should have a similar aging curve, perhaps slightly better.) In case you hadn't noticed, it is no longer acceptable for the top wines in Vinho Verde to be ephemeral. They need to age a reasonable time. Mendes' wines normally exceed expectations in that regard, even at the lower levels. Sourced from 25-year-old vines, a special plot that Mendes thought tended to show the best in most years, there were just 4,800 bottles produced.