Review: Quevedo Family Alvarinho

One of my favorite parts of being a wine blogger is traveling to explore wine regions around the world. It’s not just traveling to beautiful places or the amazing wines I discover on these trips, but it’s the people I meet and the friends I make on these trips that make it truly special. I mention this because two of the friends I’ve made along my journey are connected to this particular review.

This wine was produced by a small family winery in the Douro called Quevedo. I first met one of the family members, Oscar Quevedo Jr., many years ago at a European Wine Bloggers Conference. I wouldn’t say we’re close friends, but if we ran into each other I’m sure we’d make time to catch up over a glass of wine.

Another friend of mine who I first met through the European Wine Bloggers Conference is Ryan O’Connell. Ryan helped launch NakedWines.com in the US and is currently their VP of Marketing. This wine is available exclusively through Naked Wines, and they sent me a sample for this review.

Before I get into this wine, I want to take a minute to explain NakedWines.com. First of all, it’s not a wine club. It’s kind of like a wine club, but it’s not. It’s different.

Most wine clubs involve subscribing to wine shipments from a specific producer or wine club company. Then on a monthly basis the club picks a few bottles to send your way. That’s not how things work at Naked Wines.

The idea behind Naked Wines is provide crowd funding for wine producers and then sell their wine at discounted prices to the crowd funders. The way it works is you become what Naked Wines calls an “Angel” which requires you to deposit $40 per month into your Naked piggy bank. Naked Wines then uses that money to fund winemaking projects. The wine made in those projects then goes up for sale on NakedWines.com with a market price for non-Angels and a much-reduced price for Angels. Better yet, Angels not only get to buy the wine at discounted prices, but they buy those discount-priced wines with the money from their Naked piggy bank.

At Naked Wines you can choose specifically which wines you want delivered. If you prefer more of a random sampling, that’s an option too. They also have some tools in the site to help you find wine that matches your tastes. You can see how it’s a bit different from traditional wine clubs.

If this seems intriguing to you, I have some amazing news. My friends at Naked Wines gave me a special code for my readers to get a super deal on their first order of wine, 12 bottles of wine for $79.99 (shipping included)!!! This link will get you that deal: http://us.nakedwines.com/CWR100

Now, let’s take a look at this particular wine.

As I mentioned, Quevedo Family is the producer. I know them mostly for their Port Wine, which is amazing. But this wine is nothing like Port. This is an alvarinho, which in Portugal is the same grape you may know as abariño from Spain. If you’re looking for refreshing, crisp, tropical-flavored white wines then alvarinho is one you’ll love.

This particular one from Quevedo Family is a great example of an alvarinho from Portugal. It’s perfect for a beautiful, sunny summer day like today.

This wine has lovely tropical aromatics, with so much intensity I could smell it as soon as I started pouring without even bringing the glass to my nose. Pineapple, orange blossom, banana, lime and wet stone aromas waft from this wine. The palate brings much of the same, with tart pineapple and lime flavors, along with a touch of white peach. All of this is made vibrant, lively and crisp from the acidity. The finish brings a salty note along with lingering tropical flavors.

This is a very nice alvarinho. While good on its own, it’s also an excellent wine for seafood. Now I’m craving some crispy calamari to go along with this.

Wine: Quevedo Family Alvarinho
Varieties: Alvarinho
Vintage: 2018
Alcohol: 12.9%
Rating: 88
Price: $18.66 Market Price / $11.99 Angel Price at NakedWines.com
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.

Get 12 bottles of wine for $79.99 (shipping included) from NakedWines.com