2022 Azores Wine Company Arinto dos Acores

The Azores Wine Company began in 2010 with winemaker António Maçanita's project to revive the Terrantez do Pico grape, later founded with Filipe Rocha and Paulo Machado. They focus on restoring native Azorean grape varieties, mainly on Pico Island. Here, vines grow in rock cracks at the foothills of a volcanic mountain, close enough to the ocean that locals say you can hear “the crabs singing.” The vineyards are shielded from strong salty winds by rock walls called “currais,” which are believed to be 500 to 1,000 years old which allowed Pico to achieve it's UNESCO World Heritage status.
Arinto dos Açores is a unique grape variety native to the Azores Islands, unrelated to the mainland Arinto despite sharing the same name and good acidity. The grapes are selectively hand-harvested into 20kg baskets, whole bunch pressed, naturally racked after 12 hours, and undergo spontaneous fermentation in small 600 to 1000L horizontal stainless steel tanks, aging for 10 months on fine lees. Expect a clean citrus color and a fresh, pure, and mineral aroma with a hint of grapefruit.
Alc. 12.5%

Other Reviews....
Hello. This is all about fresh apricot, butter menthol, preserved lemon and spice, quite saline too. with a pear juice richness. It’s golden and very juicy, plenty of salt crusted things, slippery but with a bright tangerine acidity, nutty too, tastes in a way like a waxy golden Riesling, but there’s a whole other different character to it. Quite unusual in a way. A rich wine, but also has zip and tang. Sea spray carries on a dried apple and cream sherry finish of good length. So interesting. A little Jura style oxy thing here too. Drink 2024 - 2027+
94 Points
Gary Walsh - The Wine Front