Is vinho verde the perfect summer wine?
Effervescent, inexpensive and with a moderate ABV, Portugal’s ‘green wine’ is the ideal accompaniment to garden get-togethers and alfresco dining
If there is a better wine for summer frolics than vinho verde, I don’t know it. Translating literally to “green wine”, the wines from the region known as Vinho Verde DOC in northern Portugal aren’t actually green; the verde is metaphorical. These are young wines, inexperienced wines; their hearts haven’t been broken, they are joyful and fizzy with unlived life, like a Tangfastics-guzzling tween who has just discovered the Beach Boys in her parents’ record collection.
I write this in the aftermath of the hottest UK days on record. If you’re drinking wine on sultry days such as those, chances are you’ll want something refreshing. Thanks to the Portuguese region’s Atlantic maritime climate – ocean breezes, cool nights, high rainfall – and (usually) well-drained granite soils, vinho verde excels at gluggability: vibrant, with high acidity, a low ABV (usually below 12%), sometimes a touch of spritz, and notes of ripe lime and orchard fruits.
That’s the typical profile of own-label supermarket vinho verde, which is generally made with a blend of indigenous Portuguese grapes such as aromatic loureiro, softening trajadura and arinto for acidity. Chin Chin, an inarguably delicious and nattily labelled cult wine imported by Keeling Andrew (the wine distribution arm of the Noble Rot restaurants), uses a blend of the first two; it retails for anywhere between £11 and £18 and has been so successful that there are now several dupes, also with bright, illustrated labels: Bowl Grabber (see today’s pick), for example, is moreish and as good with food as it is solo; I had it with frittata and salad.
Fuller, more aromatic wines that still have that hallmark freshness are also made in the Vinho Verde DOC. Alvarinho (aka albariño, as it’s known over the border in Spanish Galicia) is usually involved, often blended with loureiro for freshness with structure. Soalheiro’s zippy Allo (ALvarinho and LOureiro) in today’s pick is wonderful – a little bit tropical, a little bit floral – and, along with other iconic vinho verdes, can be had for a steal on specialist website Portugal Vineyards.
It’s not all white wines, either. Quinta do Ameal’s Bico Amarelo Tinto, made with three indigenous red grapes, is a winner for lovers of chilled red – the region’s answer to the crunchy, quaffable “glou-glou” reds that have taken recent British summers by storm. It’s also worth checking out biodynamic producer Aphros, which makes a wine that challenges the vinho verde stereotype. Its Phaunus in today’s pick is a loureiro unlike any other, made in an ancestral cellar without electricity and aged in a beeswax-lined amphora. It may not have had its heart broken, but it is a heartbreaker of a wine.
Most vinho verdes come in at less than £11, which is yet another reason they fit the bill so well for summer frolics. What’s not to love about a bottle, bought for single digits, to take to the park or inhale in the garden?
Five vinho verdes that are worth your attention
Bowl Grabber 2024 £9.50 Ocado, 11%. A Tigger of a wine: young, zesty and bouncy.
Soalheiro Allo White 2025 £6.90 Portugal Vineyards, 11%. 70% alvarinho, 30% loureiro, 100% heavenly.
Quinta do Ameal Bico Amarelo Tinto Vinho Verde 2025 £8.95 The Wine Society, 11.5%. Packed with sour cherry and fresh herb notes: barbecue a-go-go.
Phaunus Loureiro 2023 £28.45 Sip Wines, 10%. Honeyed and pineapple-tart, this elegant, unfiltered skin-contact loureiro is made in an ancestral cellar.
Mendes & Symington Contacto Alvarinho 2024 £17.50 Berry Bros & Rudd, 12.5%. A classy mineral and floral alvarinho, more resembling Galician albariño than a typical vinho verde.