🍇 Arinto

Arinto is a white wine grape from Portugal. According to the OIV, it covered 6,000 ha in 2015, or 3 % of the country's vineyards, and was among the ten most widespread varieties. VIVC gives 2,310 ha for Portugal in 1989 and 3,175 ha in 2010.

The grape is most closely tied to Bucelas, a small appellation near Lisbon in the valley of the river Trancão. The Bucelas technical file requires at least 75 % Arinto. The wines are dry, with a marked acidity typical of this very grape, and take on a golden hue with age. Sparkling wines are also made from Arinto in Bucelas. The natural alcohol of the grape juice for these wines has to be at least 10.5 %.

The soils in Bucelas are poor, mostly marls and hard limestones; the winter is fairly cold and the summer mild. The wine has a long history: according to the file, the Duke of Wellington valued Bucelas, and after the Peninsular War it became popular at the English court.

VIVC lists 25 synonyms, among them Pedernã, Arinto de Bucelas and Arinto d'Anadia; the last two point to places where the grape is grown.

Why it matters to you. If the label says Bucelas, the bottle is mostly Arinto. "Pedernã" is the same grape. If the grape is named on a bottle of EU wine, it makes up at least 85 % of it. White wines are served at 4–10 °C.