António Rebelo de Sousa
Alexander Laut
Anselmo Mendes
Oenologist and businessman
He was born in Monção and is a renowned Portuguese oenologist. Anselmo Mendes is dedicated to producing exquisite variations of Alvarinho, an extraordinary grape variety, typical of the region where he was born, but he is also a consultant for leading companies throughout the country. He graduated in agronomy, but the ‘bug for anything to do with wine’ led to him doing a postgraduate course in oenology and viticulture, in addition to various courses in Bordeaux, France. With so many award-winning and renowned wines, the oenologist and entrepreneur will continue to ‘experiment’, planning more and more growth in top wines.
You have been familiar with winegrowing and wine production since childhood. Was being an oenologist always part of your plans?
My family has lived from agriculture for several generations. I have been involved in farming activities from an early age, and that includes the grape harvest. As an adolescent, I decided that I wanted to become an agronomist. I went to Lisbon where I graduated in agronomy. In the second half of the course, I was already devouring everything to do with viticulture and oenology. From then on I never stopped studying them. I did a postgraduate course at the Universidade Católica and other courses in Bordeaux. I worked in a large wine company, I was and I still am a consultant for several companies and today, as an oenologist and entrepreneur, I still have this experimentalist and studious spirit of anything to do with wine.
You created your own company 20 years ago. How do you view the outcome?
We grew as a family business and that’s how we’ve continued. We started on the cheap, with a country house with 2000 bottles and 2.5 ha of vineyard. Today we have 50 ha of Alvarinho and 65 ha of Loureiro, and the outcome has proved very positive. With the Alvarinho, in Monção and Melgaço, and the Loureiro, in Vale do Lima, we have brands with added value, such as Parcela Única, Curtimenta, Contacto, Muros Antigos e Muros de Melgaço. I think we have also contributed to a better knowledge of these grape varieties and the Vinhos Verdes region.
«The future project will be more growth in top wines, asserting the expression of our unique terroir even further»
To what extent is the increased use of technologies beneficial in the production of wine?
Technologies and knowledge are very important, even in traditional sectors such as wine. I have a saying for this: «Making wine is above all else knowledge; art is the detail of doing it differently». Knowledge connects various sciences and, in the case of wine, should be used to extol the expression of the land where the vines grow.
Anselmo Mendes is almost synonymous with Alvarinho. Do you have a particular preference for this grape variety?
There is a special relationship. I was born breathing Alvarinho and as soon as I finished my studies, I started experimenting: first the fermentation and ageing in casks, then skin maceration, the effect of different soils, etc. I still study it today and I am no regrets whatsoever about our relationship.
What projects do you have for a future?
Our next project is wine tourism at our Casa da Torre Quinta da Bemposta. We are going to create the Alvarinho experience centre. This Quinta with its wine roots dating back to the 14thcentury boasts a diversity of terroirs, capable of making the wines achieve a unique expression. The future project will be more growth in top wines, asserting the expression of our unique terroir even further.
