White Grape Variety - "A" letter

Albariño or Alvarinho is a variety of white wine grape grown in Monção and Melgaço (northwest Portugal), and Galicia (northwest Spain) where it is used to make varietal white wines.

Albariño is actually the Galician name for the grape. In Portugal it is known as Alvarinho, and sometimes as Cainho Branco.

It was presumably brought to Iberia by Cluny monks in the twelfth century. Its name "Alba-Riño" means "the white [wine] from the Rhine" and it has locally been thought to be a Riesling clone originating from the Alsace region of France, although earliest known records of Riesling as a grape variety date from the 15th, rather than the 12th, century. It is also theorized that the grape is a close relative of the French grape Petit Manseng.

It should not be confused with the Alvarinho Liláz grape of Madeira. It is also common in the Vinho Verde region of Portugal, but it is only authorized to be grown in Monção and Melgaço.

In other locations such as Ribeiro (DO), Lima, Braga or Valdeorras (DO) it is often mixed with other grapes such as Loureiro, Godello, Caiño, Arinto or Treixadura to produce blended wines.

The Alvarinho grape is noted for its distinctive aroma, very similar to that of Viognier, Gewurztraminer, and Petit Manseng, suggesting apricot and peach. The wine produced is unusually light, and generally high in acidity with alcohol levels of 11.5–12.5%.[3] Its thick skins and large number of pips can cause residual bitterness.

Antão Vaz is a Portuguese grape from Alentejo, and the origins still shrouded in mystery. Even today, in addition to more than confirmed Alentejo ancestry, little is known about their origin and affiliation.

Being a regional caste, and cause it traveled so little, it is unknown any official synonymy. It is in Vidigueira, and also in Évora, the caste Antão Vaz expressed with greater eloquence, earning a reputation for complexity and wisdom that blistered for regional stardom.

The variety is consensual and well loved, wanted by winegrowers and winemakers, ex-libris of the white varieties Alentejo, pride and soul of the best white wines of the Alentejo.

Being a caste coming warm weather, Antão Vaz is particularly well suited to the sunny climate of the great plain, earning high standards of resistance to drought and ailments.

The variety is productive, consistent and reliable, mature evenly. As a rule, it embodies perfumed wines, structured, firm and full-bodied, while in adverse conditions if you recognize the lack of acidity refreshing and invigorating.

Therefore it is often crowded with the castes Roupeiro and Arinto, guaranteeing a natural acidity sharper. If harvested early gives rise to wines vibrant acidity, exotic aroma and firm mouth. When harvested latelly, can achieve high alcohol content, combined with fragrant aromas, which transforms an exemplary candidate for barrel aging in new wood.

When bottled extreme, Antony Vaz displays aromas of ripe tropical fruit raptured, tangerine peel and suggestions discrete minerals.

Arinto or Arinto de Bucelas is a white Portuguese wine grape planted primarily in the Bucelas, Tejo and Vinho Verde regions. It can produce high acid wines with lemon notes.

Avesso is a white Portuguese wine grape planted primarily in the Minho region of Portugal. It can make full bodied aromatic wines. Ampelographers believe it maybe related to the Portuguese grape Jaen.

It is limited to the Vinho Verde region, particularly in the sub-region Baião. Menezes (1900) classifies it in Baiao and Resende.

Azal branco is a white Portuguese wine grape planted primarily in the Minho region. It noted for the high acidity of its wines, and is used for white Vinho Verde. Varietal Azal Branco wines can be somewhat reminiscent of Riesling.

Total Portuguese plantations are around 5,100 hectares (13,000 acres), which makes it the second-most planted grape variety of Minho, after Loureiro.

Verde made from the Azal Branco is light, citrusy and often contains the slightest fizz from both high acidity and unresolved CO2.