Meet Portugal's Vinho Verde and sommelier Brianne Cohen
This issue was published on March 8, 2023
Happy International Women's Day!
We’re here to level up your wine game and celebrate the women who work in wine, all while having a grape time.
Today, we’re drinking about Vinho Verde then talking to sommelier and wine educator, Brianne Cohen. So pour yourself a glass and let’s get our learn on!
Vinho Verde
Green Wine and Ham
Sauvy B fans, this one’s for you! Vinho Verde (literally “green wine”) is one of Portugal’s most popular white wines, found in the northwest of Portugal, just below Spain. The area, formerly a province known as Minho, is one of the most agriculturally productive regions of the country with hills that are packed with orchards, and farm crops filled with corn, potatoes, and beans.
Historically, this verde (green) wine was not actually green, but a young wine that was light, low-alcohol, inexpensive, and made to be drunk soon after it was made with a dash of spritz to wash down fish dishes. In fact, they were consumed so quickly that producers didn’t even bother putting vintage dates on the bottle!
Now less fizzy, much more serious, and with greater flavor, Vinho Verde today can be made from any of 25 white grapes or some combination of them. Some of the more popular grapes used are alvarinho, trajadura, loureiro, arinto, avesso, and azal. If you have literally no idea what I just said, you’re not alone! A quick overview of these varietals:
Arinto: Often called Portugal’s finest white grape, this varietal can age 7+ years (unusual for a white wine)! You’ll find a complex combination of a juicy melon, citrus, plus a bit of bitter notes on the finish
Alvarinho (also known as albariño in Spain): Grapefruit and floral notes. A wine growing in popularity!
Avesso: Similar to alvarinho but with a subtle, bitter layer of green almond for added complexity
Azal: The highest-acid grape of the crew. Think puckery lemonade.
Loureiro (loureira in Spain): Another high acidity varietal with aromas of peach and white blossom. Wine Folly refers to this varietal as “The Riesling of Portugal”
Trajadura (treixadura in Spain): You’ll find this grape paired with Alvarinho often! It adds aromas of pear and citrus blossom plus some richness.
You’ll notice that citrus is a consistent descriptor across the board. This high-acid, often low-alcohol, dry white blend was made for eating fish tacos with cilantro and mango salsa, or ceviche with lime. You’ll practically feel the breeze from the Atlantic as you sip on your Vinho Verde next Taco Tuesday!
Bonus fact: Vinho Verde can actually also be red (made with varietals like vinhão, padeiro, and espadeiro). Red “green” wine is usually not exported (I’ve never tried it myself), but it’s described as (unsurprisingly) bitingly acidic, which pairs perfectly with the oily codfish, pork, and rustic bean dishes of the area. Something to put on your list of things to try if you travel to Portugal!
If you want to take a serious dive into Vinho Verde, try taking a look at “Mr. Alvarinho” himself, Anselmo Mendes. He’s widely regarded as one of the most revered winemakers from Portugal and, luckily for us, plenty of his wonderful bottles of Vinho Verde are in the $25 range.
Brianne Cohen
Sommelier and Wine Educator
This interview has been edited for clarity and truncated for the newsletter.
This week, we’re talking with Brianne Cohen, a Los Angeles based certified-sommelier and wine educator who highlights diverse-owned wineries.
Merobebe
What first inspired you to work in the wine industry and, more specifically, become an educator?
Brianne Cohen
It's kind of like everyone – I loved it and I couldn't get away. Wine certifications, as I say, are like Pringles. Once you pop, you can't stop. You think, oh, I'm just going to do this one. And then all of a sudden you want to do the next one and then the next one! I was writing a wine blog documenting my experience [of studying for and getting a wine diploma] so it got me into that mode of talking about wine and putting thoughts on paper. I really like to be around [non-industry] people just talking about wine, and that's when I realized that I had an ability to talk about wine in a really fun, relatable, and approachable way.
Merobebe
Why do you think traditional wine education can be so overwhelming and confusing, and how have you changed your approach to make wine education more approachable?
Brianne Cohen
It is overwhelming and it's confusing – and we're talking about something that people are hypothetically enjoying for fun! It shouldn't be overwhelming and confusing. It should be enjoyable, exciting, and dynamic.
So why is it like that? There's just so much information! There's where the grapes grow, and the soils, and the climate, and the terroir, and tasting notes. And then there's all these rules, like how to open a bottle of wine, how to store a bottle of wine, what glass should you use? What should you eat while you're drinking? It's just a lot of information.
I realized quickly that as an educator – I don't love that term because the people that I am educating or speaking to aren’t pupils or students, they're just regular people drinking wine that want to know a little bit more. It’s about breaking bread, pulling the great wines out, and letting people enjoy and find out where they are in their journey.
Wine is really just this liquid in a glass. It's pretty boring. It's not that exciting. We have to bring it to life, and I don't think you bring it to life with just tasting notes on a grid and soil structure. I think you have to bring it to life with real life. Like what does it remind you of, what movie do you want to watch with this wine, what does it make you think about?
Merobebe
I think the tasting part is of course the fun part, but also where people get intimidated. I’ve been to lots of tastings where people are asked what they smell and it’s just silent. But there's no wrong answer, because it’s about your personal sense of smell and memories! I remember someone once said the wine reminded them of “freshly cut garden hose.” I have no idea what that smells like, but I loved that!
Brianne Cohen
Yeah, totally. That's the most important part. I always say when I'm talking to people who are just getting started in their wine education that it's really about stepping off of that tasting sheet, off of that grid, and into the real world.
When we give this black and white [tasting] sheet, it can be confusing. Here's this sheet with all these tasting notes, plums and cherries and lemons and limes, but we're also at the same time telling you that your palate is yours and everyone's is different. So are everyone's reference points. So you're like, I've never cut a garden hose. My family is from Argentina. We have things that are specific to our culture. There's no reason we can't integrate those into our tastings and what we're sharing. And it'll start a conversation because someone's going to go, Oh, I don't know what that smells or tastes like, what is it like? And then you can get into it from there.
Merobebe
What do you think are some of the best ways to start or continue to develop your palate and learn what you like so you can better describe it to the sommelier at a restaurant?
Brianne Cohen
Number one, you can step out of the grocery store and step into your wine shop. There's great stuff at the grocery store and we all shop at the grocery store, so it's super convenient. I get it. It's just that at the grocery store, you are only exposed to mass produced, commercial wines that are a little homogenous. Stepping out of the grocery store or big box wine retailer and into your local wine shop is super helpful because someone's going to walk up to you and say, What can I help you with? How much are you looking to spend?
Say you’re a sauvignon blanc person. The person at the wine shop might say, have you ever tried Vinho Verde from Portugal? It’s the same price, sometimes cheaper. You're going to get that zippiness, the acidity, the freshness, the liveliness that you like from sauvignon blanc. Then, the next time you’re sitting at a restaurant and they hand you the wine list, instead of being anxious, you can ask if they have any Vinho Verde because you just tried that and really liked it.
The other thing is to keep that sense of exploration and discovery. When I was studying for all the certifications, I made it a goal to not drink the same wine twice if I could help it. If I had a wine list put in front of me, I'm trying to find the grape I’ve never had, maybe the region or a producer I've never had so that every time you're tasting wine, you have that sense of exploration and discovery. You can learn so much and go, Oh, I just tried something different that I like. It's all about that exploration in the journey of wine.
Merobebe
Are there certain questions you get asked often at tastings, and have you found differences with in-person or virtual tastings?
Brianne Cohen
I generally work with corporate clients so it's a little different because you already have a different group of people. Either way, you're going to get the people who are super stoked because it's wine. Everyone's happy, no one's in a bad mood, right? There's wine, they're excited, they're trying all the things and they're like, what do you think of this wine? What do you think of screw caps? Do you have a Coravin and does it really work? What's your favorite $15 grocery store wine? It's really fun.
And then you also have the people who are, like, flexing. It's usually men, let's be honest. We started this conversation by talking about giving space to women in wine. That's another thing that men do. They take up a lot of space, and they take up a lot of space telling you what they know, even when they're talking to a professional in the industry. That's frustrating – I'm not going to lie about that. But I have mastered the art of the nice little smile like, Oh, thank you so much for telling me something I already know! That's part of just how we as women have to live our life. I don't want to say that, but it's something that we face daily in our regular life, and I certainly face it being a wine professional.
Merobebe
That's so interesting, and answers the other question I was going to ask about whether you see a difference in how you’re treated as a woman educator in wine.
Brianne Cohen
They don't want to hear your answer half the time, they want to just interject their stuff or they want to know what you think of their wine choice, like, What do you think of Caymus? I think it all comes from insecurity. I don't think most of them are trying to be like, Oh, this woman doesn't know anything, I'm going to prove her wrong. I don't know that that happens that often. I think it's more about – it's one of these topics that for whatever reason, people think they need to know everything, especially professionals who are in a client-entertaining setting and trying to show off their vanity wines.
Merobebe
One last question for you: How do you think the wine industry can better support and promote diversity and inclusivity, not just in winemaking but the industry as a whole?
Brianne Cohen
That's a huge question. That's not one that we can answer in this conversation because it's a big, multilayered thing. But the issue, which we talked about a little bit already, is that wine is not a space where people feel super comfortable all the time – like the overwhelming and confusing language.
I want to change that. That's what I'm out to do, because when I host my tasting experiences for corporate groups, I focus on highlighting diverse-owned wineries. I also think the industry needs to do the same and be more welcoming of inviting people to the table. All of our voices and opinions are important and if you enjoy wine, you should feel welcome in this space at any time. That to me is the ultimate goal. To achieve that, there's 10,000 things that have to be done because I think whether you’re walking into a tasting room, talking to a sommelier in a restaurant, or picking up wine in a wine shop, you should feel comfortable, you should feel confident, you should feel like your opinions and ideas aren't getting pooh poohed, and like you're not being judged. It's all about getting the customer closer to a wine that knocks their socks off, whether it’s a $10 grocery store wine or something expensive.
Get more wine insights from Brianne on Instagram at @sommspirations!
Get a wine-related movie or book pairing for your weekend.
Today’s pairing isBottle Shock (2008) starring Alan Rickman, Chris Pine, and Bill Pullman.
This 2008 dramedy is based on the true story of a California wine infamously defeating a French wine in a blind taste test during a wine competition in 1976, putting Napa on the map.
If you’re ready to watch a fantastic cast in an underdog story about wine, grab some Napa cabs and popcorn, and let me know what you think of the movie!
Learn something new?
If you enjoyed what you read, please share it with your fellow wine-loving friends! After all, sharing wine & wine knowledge is the best kind of caring…
Next week, we’ll be talking about Oregon’s Willamette Valley and chatting with Heidi Moore, a wine insurance agent and host of the podcast Wine Crush.
Cheers,
Megumi