Why it matters
The producer
Quinta da Pigarra is a small Melgaço wine estate whose documented wines put Alvarinho at the centre. Rita Castro leads the family business, while Jorge Sousa Pinto is associated with the wines. The company was constituted on 12 February 2014 for viticulture, wine production and sales; its Encostas de Melgaço labels turn the local grape into still and sparkling bottles rather than a single house style.
The documented company history begins in 2014, when Quinta da Pigarra - Sociedade Agricola, Lda. was constituted in Melgaço. Under Rita Castro, the estate has made Alvarinho the thread between its wines: the regular Encostas de Melgaço bottling uses stainless steel and lees ageing for bright fruit and texture, while Único takes the same grape towards riper tropical notes and a broader palate. The Bruto Reserva then carries Alvarinho into a wine with fine persistent bubbles, citrus and dried-fruit notes.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Melgaço sits in the Monção e Melgaço subregion of Vinho Verde, where Alvarinho has a defined regional home. On the Encostas de Melgaço label, that relationship is direct: the grape named on the bottle is Alvarinho, and the origin points to Melgaço rather than Vinho Verde as a broad regional category. The result is a range built around fresh white-wine fruit and acidity, then extended into a richer still wine and a sparkling expression.
The vineyards are on granite soil, and published accounts describe the family company as having about seven hectares beside the Minho River; a listing for the named wine records 6.5 hectares. The small scale keeps the picture focused on individual lots of Alvarinho rather than a large blended production. Granite is the physical ground beneath the standard Encostas de Melgaço Alvarinho, whose citrus, peach and pear character arrives with a dry, fresh palate.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
For the listed Encostas de Melgaço wine, grapes were hand-harvested into 15-kilogram boxes, with a reported yield of 40 hectolitres per hectare. Smaller boxes help keep picked fruit intact before pressing; the wine consequence is a clean starting point for the fresh, aromatic Alvarinho profile recorded in the glass.
The must fermented in stainless-steel tanks at 14°C, then the still wine aged on fine lees, with regular bâtonnage recorded for the 2023 bottling. Steel keeps overt oak flavour out of the fruit, so peach, pear, pineapple, citrus, herbs and honeydew melon remain exposed. Lees contact and stirring add body and a softer texture beneath the acidity, which is why the wine reads as dry and fresh rather than thin.
Wines to know
The range in view
Encostas de Melgaço Alvarinho is the straightest expression of the range: 100% Alvarinho, citrine in colour and dry in profile, with varietal perfume, fruit and a fresh, complex palate. The 2023 description moves through peach, pear, pineapple, honeydew melon, citrus and herbs. Its fine-lees ageing supplies texture while the fruit remains the main note.
Encostas de Melgaço Único Alvarinho uses the same 100% Alvarinho base, stainless-steel fermentation and fine-lees ageing, but includes maceration before pressing. Its documented profile shifts toward ripe tropical fruit, a creamy palate, marked acidity and a powerful finish. It is the fuller still-wine branch of the range, with more weight and creaminess than the standard Alvarinho.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with Encostas de Melgaço Alvarinho. It is a 100% Alvarinho from Melgaço, grown on granite soil and made through hand harvesting, cool stainless-steel fermentation and fine-lees ageing. Expect dry citrus, peach, pear, pineapple and herbs, with fresh acidity and a lightly rounded texture from the lees. It introduces the grape and the cellar work without the added creaminess of Único or the mousse of Bruto Reserva.