Grape Guide
Avesso
WhiteAvesso is a white Portuguese variety grown on the southeastern edge of Vinho Verde, close to the lower Douro. It ripens more fully than most of its neighbours, giving wines with firmer body and higher alcohol than the region's light norm, while keeping fresh, steady acidity and ripe stone-fruit flavours.
Key characteristics
- Early budding and early ripening
- Vigorous, reasonably productive vine
- Medium to large berries
- Does well in granite soils that are dry and poor in nutrients
- Prone to botrytis and downy mildew; powdery mildew is not a problem for it
Typical flavors
Major regions
Baião (Vinho Verde) · Amarante (Vinho Verde) · Cinfães · Resende
Also known as
Bornal · Bornão · Borral · Borracal Branco
Avesso is a white grape of northern Portugal, concentrated in the granite hills of Baião and the neighbouring Douro-side districts at the southeastern limit of the Vinho Verde zone. It is valued because it fills out in a way many Vinho Verde varieties do not. Bunches ripen early and fully, so the wines can reach 12 to 13% alcohol while holding crisp natural acidity.
The typical profile is rounder than that of Loureiro or Arinto: peach, apricot and ripe pear, sometimes edging toward tropical fruit, over a clean citrus line. It is bottled on its own and also used in blends with other native whites such as Arinto, Azal and Trajadura. Its volume of fruit lets it carry lees contact or light oak better than most regional peers, and quality-minded producers increasingly treat it as a white for structured, food-oriented wine.
The name means 'contrary' or 'reverse' in Portuguese. A common explanation is that the variety runs against the grain of its region, ripening to alcohol levels that Vinho Verde's cool, wet climate does not usually deliver. The earliest known written mention dates to 1896, in the work of the agronomist Menezes. That date, together with the low genetic diversity measured among Avesso vines, suggests it is not an especially ancient cultivar.
No parentage has been established. The Vitis International Variety Catalogue lists it as a Portuguese variety under number 798. Its recorded synonyms are Bornal, Bornão, Borral and Borracal Branco, names that can turn up in older vineyard records and nursery lists.
Avesso has an identification problem on the ground. In Vinho Verde, vines carrying the local name Mourisco Branco have been shown to be Cayetana Blanca, an unrelated variety that is sometimes confused with Avesso, so material needs checking against the vine itself. Its profile has risen in recent decades as estates such as Quinta de Covela, in Baião, moved from blending it with international varieties to bottling it as a varietal wine and planting more of it. Total plantings were about 730 hectares in 2010, a small area.
Avesso is vigorous and reasonably productive, with early budburst and early ripening, a pattern consistent with the higher alcohol levels it can reach compared with other Vinho Verde whites. Berries are medium to large. Granite-derived soils that are dry and low in fertility suit it best, since they hold back vigour and help concentrate flavour. The main threats are downy mildew and grey rot (botrytis), especially in the damp conditions of the Atlantic-influenced north, while powdery mildew is a lesser concern. Early budding means spring frost is a risk on lower, cold-air-prone sites. Canopy management and crop control matter if the grower wants the extra body and aromatic depth that set the variety apart from other Vinho Verde whites.
Most Avesso is made as a dry, unoaked white in stainless steel. Where grapes are picked fully ripe, the wines are medium to full in body, with 12 to 13% alcohol common, which is above the 11.5% maximum that applies to ordinary Vinho Verde. The fruit leans to stone fruit and tropical notes, backed by fresh acidity, so the wines feel generous without turning heavy. It lacks the sharp, spritzy character of many entry-level Vinho Verde blends.
Estates use it for single-variety wines and for blends with Arinto, Azal or Trajadura, which the Amarante sub-region lists beside it. Quinta de Covela once blended Avesso with Chardonnay and Gewürztraminer before moving toward native varieties. Lees ageing and some barrel work are used for reserve bottlings. Varietal wines are made by Casa Santa Eulália, Covela, Quinta do Ferro and Anselmo Mendes, among others.
Where it grows
Baião
The core sub-region, on the right bank of the Douro at the southeastern end of Vinho Verde, with granite soils and a warmer, more sheltered setting than the coast. Quinta de Covela sits here, a few hundred metres from the river.
Amarante
A neighbouring Vinho Verde sub-region whose regulations list Avesso beside Arinto, Azal and Trajadura among the permitted whites; more varietal bottlings have been reported in recent years.
Cinfães
A municipality on the south bank of the lower Douro where Avesso has long been grown on the river slopes.
Resende
Another south-bank Douro municipality, part of the same cluster of districts where the variety is concentrated.