90RP | …a pretty wine that will make everyone happy!

The 2016 Grande Escolha is an Alvarinho partly (20%) fermented in French oak. Beautifully focused and concentrated, this powerful Vinho Verde has fine concentration, precision and focus. It finishes with a bang, its underlying acidity easily providing support. The freshness comes through and lifts the fruit. A terrific value.

Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate:  The 2016 Grande Escolha is all Alvarinho, dry, without fizz and coming in at 13.6% alcohol. It was aged in an equal mixture of new and used French oak for just two months. Beautifully done, this is elegant and shows finesse but also fine fruit and just a tinge of oak in its youth. It grips the palate beautifully, showing tension and lingering flavor. I don’t think this has quite the stuffing of the 2015 (granting that they aren’t side-by-side and couldn’t be tasted at the same age), but its precision seems as good, and it lingers beautifully in its understated way. It is a very fine follow-up in a tougher year, a pretty wine that will make everyone happy.