Winemaker Rosemary Cakebread sources her Albariño from the Rorick Heritage Vineyard in Murphys. The site rises above 2100′ elevation in the foothills of the Sierras and is carpeted with schist over a bed of limestone. Cakebread presses the fruit whole-cluster, then vinifies it in a mix of stainless steel and neutral oak barrels. In previous vintages (for example the 2015 and 2016), this cuvée contained a small fraction of Malvasia bianca for aromatics, but this vintage is varietal.
Although the color is pale the fragrance is expansive, offering a salty sense of jasmine and citrus, bay laurel and sage. The wine ripples with flavors of Meyer lemon and tangerine, and its scintillant acidity feels ginger-spicy. Don’t serve it too cold; you want to capture all of those aromatics, those sublte, sublime flavors.
2019 Gallica Albariño Rorick Heritage Vineyard Calaveras County
13% abv | $38 (sample)
