The World's Most Exquisite Arinto: Vinha do Marreco
Today is a very exciting one for us as our latest batch of wines has arrived from Quinta de Sant'Ana!
Please read through the brochure here.
One of the most interesting and wonderful wines in the release, one that Mark Bedford referred to as "the finest white wine that I have tasted in the past 12 months" - high praise indeed!
Here are some words from James Frost, owner and winemaker at Quinta de Sant'Ana talking about the new Vinha do Marreco:
“Arinto has been an integral part of Lisbon’s viticultural and winemaking history for centuries. During the Peninsular War, Wellington would send back barrel-loads of Arinto “Portuguese Hock” to England.
When we planted this autochthonous variety back in 2013, our ambition was for the resulting wine to celebrate both Arinto, as a world class variety, with its ageworthy acidity and developing complexity, and also to celebrate the ability of our coastal Lisbon region to shape such a wine.
Both with our classic Arinto and also with this Vinha do Marreco, we did not wish to replicate the popular, modern, stainless steel, temperature-controlled, fruit-forward style of Arinto, but rather to recall the barrelled, room temperature-fermented, ‘Old-Time’ Lisbon Arinto that allows the signature, searing acidity to shine and, most importantly, to age.
Since the first harvests, we realised that each vintage some barrels were particularly outstanding, and after a series of blind tastings and further evolution, we decided these barrels should be separated and made into a very special, limited release. Vinha do Marreco is the result: two barrels from the 2018 vintage which we believe epitomise both Arinto and Lisbon.
We hope Wellington would have approved.”
- James Frost, Winemaker & Owner of Quinta de Sant'Ana
Please read more about the Vinha do Marreco and the other Quinta de Sant'Ana wines in our brochure here.