Pico Arinto

Score

92

"The 2022 Arinto dos Açores comes exclusively from old vines in Criação Velha, which is the part of the island that retained the vines and the variety when it was wiped out from other zones. It fermented in oak vats with indigenous yeasts and matured in those vats for eight months with fine lees. It's less aromatic but serious and nuanced. It is elegant and has the tasty saltiness of 2022. It went through some 20% malolactic fermentation, so it has volume and a tender texture but retains tension and freshness with a pH of 3.28 and 6.6 grams of acidity. It is a wine that is easy to like, with fruit and saltiness. 10,484 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2023."