INSIDER'S PICK: 2018 NORTICO ALVARINHO MINHO $14.99

At a time like this, it's pretty much impossible to be 'normal'. But it is important to try and keep what you can as close to normal as you can while you can. Even though we will not be doing the public tasting portion of the Insider's Pick until further notice, we will still be offering the wine for purchase with the usual 10% discount on Thursday and Friday. The wines will still be ones we highly recommend, and the tasting notes will still be our own. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.
(This wine is also a recent addition to the wines we are offering for our Charlottesville Community Restaurant Fund 3pack, so now you have 4 different wines to pick from. The importer for these wines, Ole & Obrigato, will donate 50% of their profits on these wines to the Charlottesville Community Restaurant Fund through the end of May.)

Albarino is a fantasic naive grape variety of the area along the Minho River, which make up the northern border of Portugal with Spain. Most people recognize it more from the wines of the Rias Baixas area in Spain, but it makes up a large portion of the white wine success in the blends of Vinho Verde wines in Portugal as well. In recent years more Portuguese winemakers in this area have been doing more and more single varietal wines, letting the wine drinking public know they aren't one trick ponies and can make wines with great diversity that can be enjoyed throughout the year. Some Alvarinhos play up the more tropical and floral side of the grape, but this version plays off their proximity to the sea and the high minerality in the soils. Bright white fruit aromas are cut with a touch of salinity and citrus zest, which becomes quenching and tangy on the palate. Think of it like a Muscadet from the Loire, but juicier, both in character and in the way to enjoy it, perfect with briny seafood dishes or lightly salty cheeses and salads.

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