In 2023 The Symington family decided to strengthen its long-running relationship with the legendary Vinho Verde producer Anselmo Mendes by forming the Mendes & Symington partnership. This joint venture between two of Portugal’s leading wine producing families was established with the aim of developing premium wines from the prestigious Monção and Melgaço sub-region of the Vinho Verde DOC in northern Portugal.
From the Lima sub-region, Contacto Loureiro represents balance and harmony. The region’s terroir provides, in addition to its notorious freshness, the aromatic exuberance characteristic of the Loureiro grape variety. Throughout the Lima valley, there are mid-slope vineyards that give the wine an acidity marked by the salinity coming from the Atlantic. In this region we find granite soils and poor organic matter.
"They made a "skin contact" Loureiro for the first time in 2024. The 2024 Contacto Loureiro is also a joint venture with the Symington family, along with the Alvarinho. It comes from a single estate, Quinta da Ferreira in Ponte de Lima, at 200 meters above sea level, with a slope and more inland, in the valley, some 25 kilometers from the sea, with good drainage, where they make their best Loureiro wines. Here, we're also talking about very brief skin contact, short and cool (12 hours at 12 degrees Celsius), which has a subtle effect on the wine, but there's more intensity and complexity here." 92pts Luis Gutiérrez The Wine Advocate
