Quanto mais Arinto mais Gosto de ti 2018

The 2018 Quanto Mais Arinto Mais Gosto de Ti (roughly, "As much as you are Arinto, I love you more") is very dry (less than half a gram of residual sugar) and comes in at 13.5% alcohol. It was aged for 18 months in new French oak. The oak affects the Arinto just now, but the grape certainly rises above the wood. The longer it airs out, the less I paid attention to the wood, a good sign. Focused, fresh and persistent, this is lovely, with reasonable mid-palate depth and length on the finish. I'm not convinced it is quite as good as the last couple of vintages, though. It should still age well, and it might have a chance to improve. Needless to say, while the wine is very nice, the price is not quite as friendly. As good as this is, I would have to point out for bargain hunters that there are several wines here in this group that are far less expensive and about as good. There were 2,000 bottles produced from 18-year-old vines at 550 meters.