Pequenos Rebentos Viagem ao Princípio do Mundo 2020/2021

Pequenos Rebentos Viagem ao Princípio do Mundo is a top white made by winemaker Márcio Lopes in Monção e Melgaço. Made from 100% Alvarinho, it stands out for its singular method, including ageing under a "veil of flor" in sherry casks.

The Wine Advocate
RP 95

Reviewed by: Luis Gutiérrez

The 2020 Pequenos Rebentos Viagem Princípio do Mundo is a new white made with Alvarinho. It was inspired by Marcello Mastroianni's last film, about a Frenchman who travels to Melgaço, his family's homeland; he speaks only French and doesn't understand Portuguese.

The idea for this wine was to find a plot in Melgaço and vinify it in the À Moda Antiga style, with whole bunches and skin contact in small plastic boxes, the grapes foot-trodden and fermented with indigenous yeasts, with skins and stems kept during fermentation. The wine then aged for 24 months in used sherry casks, where it developed a layer of flor yeast.

The spicy component from the sherry is very subtle here. The wine has a bright amber colour, and the nose isn't really varietal; it's very complex, marked by skin contact, the sherry casks and the flor, subtle, full of nuance and very different.

On the palate it's serious and balanced, with texture and flavour, finishing with an almost salty sensation. 1,000 bottles were filled in October 2023.

Márcio Lopes has worked in the Monção e Melgaço sub-region of Vinho Verde since 2010. He has two hectares of vines, 0.5 hectares of Alvarinho and the rest old pergola-trained vines planted with red grapes. He farms without herbicides, organically, though not certified.

To make his 150,000 bottles a year, he also works with 30 local growers, who together have about 20 hectares. He's come a long way since making his first 2,000 bottles of Alvarinho in 2010...

2021 was a cool, very interesting vintage, with wines that were initially closed but are now showing very well.

2022 was a very dry year; without the November and December rains it would have been the driest year of the century. It was also hot, and the wines have lower acidity.

2023 was a balanced vintage, perhaps not the best year, but the wines are lovely, warm and dry, though not as much as 2022. Still, 2022 may have been better for Alvarinho...

2024 was an irregular vintage, with a dry harvest and healthy grapes, in an overall cooler season with good rain and lots of heat in July. The wines show tension and acidity.

Published: 27 March 2025

The Wine Advocate
RP 96

Reviewed by: Luis Gutiérrez

The 2021 Pequenos Rebentos Viagem Princípio do Mundo is creamy and complex, with yeasty and spicy notes and an incisive palate marked by mouth-watering citrus acidity. It's very young and vibrant, faithfully reflecting a cooler year. It has an almost fluorescent yellow colour — usually a good sign — and a complex, nuanced nose.

It has 13% alcohol, showing good ripeness and development of aromas and flavours, and very balanced acidity and freshness, with a pH of 3.17 and 6.5 grams of acidity. Despite the process and ageing, which might seem somewhat intrusive — 24 months in sherry casks, with some flor veil — these elements are just a nuance in a very complex, extraordinary white.

Unfortunately, the price is quite high and availability limited: there are only 522 bottles, filled in October 2023. But the wine is superb!

Márcio Lopes, who also calls his project Pequenos Rebentos, works in the Monção e Melgaço sub-region of Vinho Verde and in the Douro. He has two hectares around Melgaço, half a hectare of Alvarinho and 1.5 hectares of old pergola vines of red grapes. He also works with 30 local growers, totalling 20 hectares, producing about 150,000 bottles.

Tasting his wines, I thought of Xurxo Alba Padín of Albamar in Rías Baixas, as both have a very diverse range of wines, all very characterful and able to express very different things from the same grape, Alvarinho/Albariño. He's one of my favourite producers in Vinho Verde.

I tasted wines from the 2024 to 2021 vintages. 2024 was balanced and serious, with high potential; 2023 was very floral and more delicate; 2022 was dry and hot, with very small bunches and more intense, structured wines; and 2021 was a cool year, giving wines with great acidity and excellent ageing potential.

Published: 2 April 2026