Verdelho O Original 2023

I tasted the 2023 Verdelho o Original one week before bottling. 2023 was an average year, not particularly rainy or dry and much like 2021 and 2022. This feels quite tense—more tense than 2022—like a hypothetical blend of 2021 and 2018 (2018 was very linear). It has 12% alcohol, a pH of 3.42 and 6.69 grams of acidity. It's quite balanced, with freshness, acidity and minerality. The first pressing, which was 80% of the volume, fermented in stainless steel, and the second pressing (20% of the juice) was in used oak barrels, where the wine matured with lees for a period of eight months. This is still very primary, with some sensations of botrytis, but I believe it will go in the direction of the 2021 and the 2020.