Soalheiro The Sun Shines on Melgaço’s First Alvarinho
Fifty years ago, it was a bold decision — but for the Cerdeira family, planting a full hectare to alvarinho vines signaled a new dawn. Both for themselves and, in many ways, for Portugal’s wine industry.
It was 1974 when João António Cerdeira and his parents, António Esteves Ferreira and Maria Cerdeira, planted alvarinho vines in their little valley vineyard, called Soalheiro or “sunny place” (owing to the long hours of sun it typically soaks up). After all, grape growing in this part of Portugal was still a secondary endeavor behind cereal crops like corn and livestock rearing. Vines, mostly trained in pergola or as vinha de enforcado, were used as land and field borders. And mono-variety planting was nearly unheard of — field blends dominated. It was in this spirit of innovation and progress that the Cerdeira family established the very first “brand” of alvarinho in Melgaço.
Today, third-generation siblings Maria João and António Luís, along with their mother Maria Palmira Cerdeira, continue to test limits and break new ground in pursuit of the finest expressions of alvarinho.
Nestled in Portugal’s verdant north in the sub-region of Monção & Melgaço, Soalheiro remains highly active in driving innovation and consumer awareness for the entire Vinho Verde DOC region. In 2006, they converted all their vineyards to certified organic farming. Then in 2018, the Cerdeira family enlisted more than 150 other local families into a “club” of growers, all engaged in applying quality-oriented sustainable practices to their small vineyard holdings. Soalheiro and their members’ commitment to sustainability is more than simply an answer to climate change — it is about securing the longevity of their land, people, and culture for future generations of wine lovers.
Terroir
Monção and Melgaço, at Portugal’s northernmost point, is one of the nine sub-regions of Vinho Verde and one of the only districts that does not touch the Atlantic Ocean. This inland, land-locked position provides a very distinct microclimate. Spread around the hillsides on the south bank of the Minho River and surrounded by protective mountain ranges, it is insulated from the cool, rainy impact of ocean, enjoys a large diurnal shift (from warm days to cold nights), and receives the ideal amount of rain and sunshine. The soils here are predominantly granitic and well-draining.
Monção and Melgaço produces alvarinho wines that are full-bodied with great structure, minerality, intense aromatics, and incredible freshness — they are some of the longest-lived, most elegant expressions of the grape in the world. The Cerdeira family recognized this potential and João António become one of the leading voices in the region.
Viticulture
Soalheiro’s grapes are sourced from some of the oldest vines in Monção and Melgaço and at some of the highest altitudes — exploration that has led to the production of more mineral-driven, gastronomic wines and has helped the vineyard teams combat the warming climate.
Three main systems of vine training are used in the territory: “descending” training keeps the canopy facing downwards, providing shelter for the grape bunches and only allowing for half exposure to the sun. In contrast, the “ascending” training method employs an ascending wall of vegetation, giving grapes full exposure to the sun. The grapevines in pergola (also known as “ramada” style and now the least-common variation) has leaves and vegetation out horizontally, keeping grape bunches hanging in total shade.
Another key aspect to Soalheiro’s viticultural practice is parcel selection. As the winery continues to explore (and harvest by hand) the patchwork of tiny parcels that make up the Monção and Melgaço DOC, their understanding of their terroirs has greatly increased, setting them up for continued success in the future.
Winemaking Practices at Soalheiro
Soalheiro typically ages in stainless steel, but also experiments with old oak barrels, concrete, and egg fermenters, as well as various lengths of lees aging and they typically eschew malolactic fermentation. Their goal for the future is to develop new products and processes that elevate both alvarinho and Vinho Verde as a region. The winery’s R&D activities focus on quality, as well as social, economic, and environmental sustainability, to the benefit of the region and all the family producers who farm here.
