Bodegas Albamar, Pepe Luis Albarino, Rias Baixas, Spain, 2023

Overview The Wine
Xurxo Alba’s family has been farming and making Albariño in Rïas Baixas O Salnés region, near the Atlantic Ocean, for generations (Alba+mar). It wasn’t until Xurxo finished his oenology studies that the Alba family started bottling and commercializing their wines in 2006. The Alba family owns 2.5 hectares, and sources approximately 10 hectares throughout the region.

Albamar is one of only a handful (2%!) of domaines in the region using natural yeasts for their fermentation, which has a dramatic impact on both the aromatics and flavour of albariño, giving the wines much more depth, complexity and interest.

Biodynamic.

Click here to watch our YouTube video with the winemaker!

Grape/Blend
Alabariño

Origin
Rias Baixas, Spain

Winemaker's Tasting Notes
A very special wine made in honor of Xurxo's brother from a few small parcels of older 40-45yr old vines Albariño grown organically over granite and schist soils. The grapes are all hand harvested and fermentation begins spontaneously with no added yeasts in neutral French oak. The wine goes on to age for another 12 months in neutral French oak, and while this wine is distinguished from his other Albariños for that fact, this isn't a particularly "oaky" wine. Texture, elegance, and minerality are persistent throughout. Softer texture and rounder flavors of orchard fruit and golden apple. There is no fining, perhaps a light filtration, and low to no sulfur added at bottling depending on vintage.

97 Points - James Suckling
Tight and salty in character, it is medium to full-bodied, savory and sharp, with an attractive roundness and remarkable balance that is always a standout of this wine. From five parcels totaling 6,000 square meters located close to the sea. The wine is whole-cluster pressed and finishes fermentation in German and Austrian foudres. Undergoes malolactic.

95 Points - Jeb Dunnuck
The 2023 Albariño Pepe Luis comes from 40- to 45-year-old vines planted in granite soils near the sea. It spends more time in wood, 17 months in larger foudres, one reductive and the other not, the two blended together to find a cohesive whole. Medium-bodied, it’s incredibly refined and lengthy like a Chardonnay, tasting of pure green apple. It’s a heady, gastronomic, serious wine with tremendous structure.

Product size: 750ml