Adega Belém Urban Winery - Cookie Cellar Rabbit Branco

A white wine from the Lisbon region, specifically from the Alenquer area northeast of the city. This wine blends Arinto, Moscatel Graúdo, and Fernão Pires. The Arinto grape contributes acidity and a fresh citric aroma, while Moscatel Graúdo adds exotic fruit notes and a hint of orange skin. Fernão Pires provides body and a floral aroma, creating a balanced and fresh wine with stone fruit, orange, and white flower characteristics. The viniculture at Adega Belém is characterized by a low-intervention approach, working collaboratively with vine growers in and around Lisbon. The grapes are hand-harvested at optimal phenolic ripeness, ensuring their quality and integrity upon arrival at the winery, which is uniquely located in a former car repair shop in Lisbon's Belém neighborhood. The white grapes, including those for Cookie Cellar Rabbit, are sourced from vineyards in the foothills of Lisbon's Monsanto. The winemaking process involves total destemming, followed by spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel vats. The wine is then aged in stainless steel vats with batonnage, a technique of stirring the lees to enhance texture and complexity. Adega Belém is deeply committed to sustainability across its winemaking activities. This commitment begins with grape cultivation practices that support an ecologically sustainable environment, maintaining grapes and soil in good condition for future generations. In the winery, they have implemented various sustainable measures, including chemical-agent-free steam cleaning of equipment and barrels since 2021, and have invested in energy-saving inverter technology for pumps and cooling systems. They prioritize sustainable packaging design, utilizing ultra-lightweight glass bottles to reduce carbon footprint and natural monolithic corks, and they no longer use bottle capsules. The winery also has an on-site wastewater treatment plant that significantly reduces biomaterial impact before water enters the public sewage system. Adega Belém is a signatory to the Porto Protocol, actively lobbying for the EU-wide introduction of reusable standardized glass bottles to reduce the energy footprint of glass recycling further.