General Profile of Monção & Melgaço wines
Green wines from Monção & Melgaço have a citrine and/or straw colour, rich fruity and floral aromas. They are harmonious, intense and show great freshness on the palate. This region, due to its territorial profile, provides white wines with a moderately high alcohol content compared to the rest of the region and where acidity is always present due to the continental climate, which turns warm days into cold nights during ripening. With regard to the grape variety where this region is located – the Alvarinho – this territory enables this variety to present all its versatility. The area closest to the river, at an altitude of 25 metres, and rising to 150 metres, produces wines with more fruit and less acidity overall. The areas on the slope, which can go as high as 450 metres, enhance the mineral quality and freshness. This set of micro-terroirs inside the terroir leads to wines from barrels, fruity wines, mineral wines, late harvest wines or even liqueurs, all of them with the common denominator of having an enormous potential for development in bottle. Monção & Melgaço wines are characterized by an intense straw colour, with citrus highlights, intense, distinctive and complex aroma, ranging from quince, peach, lemon, passion fruit and lychee (fruity character), orange blossom, jasmine, and violet (floral character), hazelnut and walnut (almond character) and honey (caramelized character), and the flavour is complex, smooth, round, harmonious, full-bodied and persistent.