Portugal · Vinho Verde

Quinta da Pigarra - Sociedade Agricola, Lda.

A family-owned Melgaço estate turning granite-grown Alvarinho into dry still, richer still and sparkling wines.

The producer

Quinta da Pigarra is a family-owned estate in Melgaço, within Vinho Verde’s Monção e Melgaço subregion, led by Rita Castro. Its Encostas de Melgaço range centres on Alvarinho: the standard dry white, the broader Único, and Bruto Reserva sparkling wine. Granite vineyards and stainless-steel fermentation at 14°C keep the grape’s peach, pear, citrus and herbal fruit in view, while fine-lees ageing adds body beneath the acidity.

Encostas de Melgaço Alvarinho is the direct expression, with dry fruit, citrus and a fresh finish. Único takes the same grape towards ripe tropical fruit, creamy texture, marked acidity and more weight. Bruto Reserva shifts the picture again: fine persistent mousse carries white fruit, citrus and dried-fruit notes across a creamy palate.

Known for

Melgaço Alvarinho across dry still, fuller still and sparkling expressions.

Notable facts

The story

A Gold Medal For Bruto Reserva

In 2025, Encostas de Melgaço Bruto Reserva 2022 received a gold medal in the Vinhos Verdes competition. The awarded bottle was Quinta da Pigarra’s 100% Alvarinho sparkling wine, made by the small family company in Melgaço beside the Minho River. Its published tasting description began with a citrine colour and fine, persistent bubbles, then moved through white fruit and citrus to dried-fruit notes. The palate was described as creamy and lively, with freshness carrying a complex finish. The medal belongs to this named 2022 Bruto Reserva, rather than to the estate’s still Encostas de Melgaço Alvarinho or Único wines.

From the atlas

Quinta da Pigarra - Sociedade Agricola, Lda.

At A Glance

Quinta da Pigarra is a family-owned estate in Melgaço, in Vinho Verde’s Monção e Melgaço subregion, led by Rita Castro. Its Encostas de Melgaço range centres on Alvarinho: a dry still white, a more tropical and creamy Único, and a sparkling Bruto Reserva. Granite vineyards, cool stainless-steel fermentation and fine-lees ageing shape wines with fruit, acidity and a rounded texture.

The Producer

Quinta da Pigarra is a small Melgaço wine estate whose documented wines put Alvarinho at the centre. Rita Castro leads the family business, while Jorge Sousa Pinto is associated with the wines. The company was constituted on 12 February 2014 for viticulture, wine production and sales; its Encostas de Melgaço labels turn the local grape into still and sparkling bottles rather than a single house style.

Place

Melgaço sits in the Monção e Melgaço subregion of Vinho Verde, where Alvarinho has a defined regional home. On the Encostas de Melgaço label, that relationship is direct: the grape named on the bottle is Alvarinho, and the origin points to Melgaço rather than Vinho Verde as a broad regional category. The result is a range built around fresh white-wine fruit and acidity, then extended into a richer still wine and a sparkling expression.

Soil And Site

The vineyards are on granite soil, and published accounts describe the family company as having about seven hectares beside the Minho River; a listing for the named wine records 6.5 hectares. The small scale keeps the picture focused on individual lots of Alvarinho rather than a large blended production. Granite is the physical ground beneath the standard Encostas de Melgaço Alvarinho, whose citrus, peach and pear character arrives with a dry, fresh palate.

Story

The documented company history begins in 2014, when Quinta da Pigarra - Sociedade Agricola, Lda. was constituted in Melgaço. Under Rita Castro, the estate has made Alvarinho the thread between its wines: the regular Encostas de Melgaço bottling uses stainless steel and lees ageing for bright fruit and texture, while Único takes the same grape towards riper tropical notes and a broader palate. The Bruto Reserva then carries Alvarinho into a wine with fine persistent bubbles, citrus and dried-fruit notes.

Vineyards And Cellar

For the listed Encostas de Melgaço wine, grapes were hand-harvested into 15-kilogram boxes, with a reported yield of 40 hectolitres per hectare. Smaller boxes help keep picked fruit intact before pressing; the wine consequence is a clean starting point for the fresh, aromatic Alvarinho profile recorded in the glass.

The must fermented in stainless-steel tanks at 14°C, then the still wine aged on fine lees, with regular bâtonnage recorded for the 2023 bottling. Steel keeps overt oak flavour out of the fruit, so peach, pear, pineapple, citrus, herbs and honeydew melon remain exposed. Lees contact and stirring add body and a softer texture beneath the acidity, which is why the wine reads as dry and fresh rather than thin.

Wines

Encostas de Melgaço Alvarinho is the straightest expression of the range: 100% Alvarinho, citrine in colour and dry in profile, with varietal perfume, fruit and a fresh, complex palate. The 2023 description moves through peach, pear, pineapple, honeydew melon, citrus and herbs. Its fine-lees ageing supplies texture while the fruit remains the main note.

Encostas de Melgaço Único Alvarinho uses the same 100% Alvarinho base, stainless-steel fermentation and fine-lees ageing, but includes maceration before pressing. Its documented profile shifts toward ripe tropical fruit, a creamy palate, marked acidity and a powerful finish. It is the fuller still-wine branch of the range, with more weight and creaminess than the standard Alvarinho.

Encostas de Melgaço Bruto Reserva 2022 is the sparkling branch. Also made from 100% Alvarinho, it brings fine persistent mousse, white fruit, citrus and dried-fruit notes into a creamy texture and lively freshness. Its finish is described as complex, so the bottle offers more than fruit and bubbles alone.

In The Glass

The standard Alvarinho opens in a fruit-and-herb register: peach and pear first, then citrus, pineapple and honeydew melon. Stainless steel keeps the aroma direct, while fine lees broaden the middle of the palate. Acidity carries the dry fruit through a fresh finish, leaving a light savoury edge rather than oak spice.

Único moves toward riper tropical fruit and a creamier mouthfeel. Maceration before pressing and lees ageing give the wine more weight, while its marked acidity prevents the texture from becoming heavy. The finish is more forceful and longer in shape than the regular Encostas de Melgaço Alvarinho.

Bruto Reserva changes the sensation through mousse: fine, persistent bubbles lift white fruit and citrus, then dried-fruit notes and creamy texture arrive across the palate. The wine finishes with lively freshness, so its body feels more layered than merely fizzy.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with Encostas de Melgaço Alvarinho. It is a 100% Alvarinho from Melgaço, grown on granite soil and made through hand harvesting, cool stainless-steel fermentation and fine-lees ageing. Expect dry citrus, peach, pear, pineapple and herbs, with fresh acidity and a lightly rounded texture from the lees. It introduces the grape and the cellar work without the added creaminess of Único or the mousse of Bruto Reserva.

Anecdote

In 2025, Encostas de Melgaço Bruto Reserva 2022 received a gold medal in the Vinhos Verdes competition. The awarded wine was a 100% Alvarinho sparkling wine from Quinta da Pigarra, the small family company in Melgaço beside the Minho River. Its published tasting description began with a citrine colour and fine persistent bubbles, then moved through white fruit and citrus to dried-fruit notes. On the palate, it was described as creamy, lively and fresh, with a complex finish. The award attached a specific date and result to the Bruto Reserva bottle, rather than to the estate’s still Alvarinho wines.

Final Word

Quinta da Pigarra offers three useful views of Melgaço Alvarinho: dry fruit and acidity in Encostas de Melgaço Alvarinho, greater creaminess and tropical fruit in Único, and citrus lifted by fine mousse in Bruto Reserva. The shared thread is clear: granite-grown Alvarinho handled in steel and shaped with lees.

Sources

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