2008 Quinta da Aveleda Vinho Verde

Notes of citrus and minerals paired with a slight fizz lead to an easy drinking wine that pairs perfectly with seafood or salad. Bright, crisp and refreshing, sure to be a hit anytime.

Vinho Verde is not a wine that you retreat to your study, home office or wherever in the middle of the night to contemplate the shadows and lucubrate over. It is chiefly a wine of pure, radiant sunlight, impulsive spontaneity and 'joie de vivre', or whatever the equivalent phrase is in Portuguese. Quinta Aveleda has, by carefully blending the traditional Portuguese VV varietals, pretty much captured the essence of this special summer conceit. Festive seafood-friendly salads and fresh shellfish will rise to the task, but you can enjoy it's shimmering lime-laden effervescence on its own.

Wow! I mean whoa! I mean...uh, wow, that's pretty darn cool. This got 90 points in both Wine Enthusiast and Wine and Spirits, which is enough of an endorsement I suppose to drop a mere 9 bones on it. But take it from this guy, points or no points, you have to try this wine. It's so racy, zippy and lip smacking, it's almost tart. It's like drinking a really lythe, elegant lime-ade. Positively thirst quenching. I had this with a simple salad of arugala, yellow and white beets, peas and some peppered goat cheese dressed with some nice olive oil and I couldn't imagine a better quaffer to wash it down. Serve it very well chilled to accentuate all it's refreshing qualities. A quick note; even just 5 or 6 years ago, you would want to drink all vinho verdes the year following the vintage as they tended to fall apart after about a year in the bottle. But like the Albarinos of Galicia just north of here in Spain, the wines are being so well made these days, they certainly hold up much longer and may even get better with a little bottle age. Don't, however, lay down a case in your cellar. You want to drink this wine tonight. Wow, I'm thirsty! And it's only 10:15 a.m. CM

served it for women who usually do not like white wine. They loved it for being not complicated, deep and that is what I expect from a wine at a party. Alvarinhos are not critics` darling, but soo tasty and refreshing, yummy

Lovely, but lacking the freshness of the typical Vino Verde. The wine has matured in the bottle, and now approaches a fuller Chardonnay or Pinot Gris - nice but not Vino Verde. For the classic experience of Vino Verde, try a non-vintage.