Producer Profile
Vale Mercê
Vinho Verde, Portugal

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Vale Mercê

Vinho Verde, Portugal

A new generation of Vinho Verde.

Vale Mercê is a small, family project based in Resende, on the south-eastern edge of the Vinho Verde region of northern Portugal. The wines are made in limited quantities with a light touch in the cellar, aiming for freshness, clarity and a strong sense of place. The area sits where Atlantic influence meets inland warmth, giving Vinho Verde its hallmark high acidity and lift.

Location: Vinho Verde, Portugal

Viticultural standards: Sustainably farmed

Working with us since: 2025

Website: https://valemerce.pt/en/

Interesting Fact: In the 1990s, and still today, the team has supplied grapes to major Vinho Verde producers such as Aveleda and Moura Basto. While these long-standing partnerships remain important, one of the driving forces behind the Vale Mercê project is to reduce the region’s reliance on large-scale operations and showcase the individuality of its vineyards.

Vale Mercê’s wines

Vale Mercê

Founder José Manuel Correia began as a grower in the 1990s, supplying grapes to larger Vinho Verde houses. Over time, he started vinifying part of the harvest himself and, in 2022, launched Vale Mercê as a label to bottle small lots from family vineyards. This grower-to-winemaker path underpins the project’s focus on fruit quality and transparent winemaking.

Vale Merce

Viticulture and The Region

Vinho Verde as a whole is defined by a cool, Atlantic-influenced climate, abundant rainfall, and predominantly granitic soils. Vale Mercê has a continental climate, with hot, dry summers and cold, rainy winters. These climatic conditions are ideal for the production of wines with a good concentration of sugars and acidity. All grapes come from vineyards planted at varying altitudes, from 40 to 650 meters above sea level. In this way, they can make the most of the different microclimates in the area to ripen the fruits.

Vale Mercê farms small parcels around Resende, where slopes, altitude and exposure contribute to natural freshness. The emphasis is on healthy fruit, moderate ripeness and preserving acidity, key to the clean, finely textured style associated with inland Vinho Verde whites.

Vale Mercê

From vineyard to glass

At Vale Mercê, winemaking begins in the vineyard. Each plot is chosen for its unique expression of Resende’s terroir, with harvest timed precisely to capture freshness and authenticity. Once picked, the grapes are destemmed and gently crushed before a delicate pressing separates the juice from skins, seeds and pulp, ensuring only the purest must continues to the next stage.

Fermentation takes place in stainless steel vats at low temperatures, allowing the grapes’ natural aromas and character to shine. The process is monitored closely but with a low-intervention approach, respecting the inherent qualities of each variety. After fermentation, the wine is filtered for clarity and gently stabilised, resulting in bottles that are both pristine in presentation and true to the essence of their origin.

What to expect in the glass

Stylistically, Vale Mercê wines sit at the crisper, more structured end of Vinho Verde: citrus (lemon, grapefruit), light florals, and a mineral thread, supported by vivid acidity and modest alcohol. Avesso and Arinto are the likely leads, offering tension, pithy citrus and a saline edge, they are versatile with seafood, vegetable dishes and lighter white-meat plates.

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