One hundred percent Albariño grown in a 40-year-old vineyard in the Val do Salnes. The fruit macerated whole-cluster for a day on dry ice, and only the free run juice was vinified. The wine spent five months in tank with weekly bâtonnage.
The results are utterly seamless, exhibiting deft handling that treats Albariño like the serious grape it is. The scent is lightly yellow-fruited, but stony, too, with a breeze of eucalyptus or pine, green and cooling. The body of the wine feels like liquid metal: cooling, silken, and elemental and it crackles with grapefruit pith and peels. At the finish is a piquancy like bitter citrus.
This is concentrated refreshment. Serve (not too cold) with white-fleshed fish (especially with lemon butter and capers), white poultry, young cheeses. You need something to match both its brilliance and seriousness.
12.5% abv | $27 (sample) 675 cases made | Imported by Grapes of Spain
