Pazo de Barrantes La Comtesse Albarino 2016
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James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker
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Winemaker Notes
Pairs well with seared crayfish with fresh pasta and vegetables; Grilled lobster with acid mayonnaise; Steamed prawns with mustard and truffle oil; Warm shrimp salad with honey mustard and green apples.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A very creamy and beautiful wine with sliced pineapple, apple and pear character. New classic. Full body. Flavorful finish. Drink now.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Like an updated and slightly more powerful, ripe and concentrated version of the 2013, the 2016 La Comtesse was also up for tasting. 2016 was not an easy year, but this comes from some of the oldest vines they have, from a plot that has more regularity in the crop. This is very young and feels a little raw. There are some aromatic notes from the oak aging that need polishing, but the wine will not be released just yet and should have some time in bottle. It's a good example of an Albariño that can age; it has concentration and balance, and in a year like 2016, there is a spark of acidity that provides freshness and length. As I've seen with the regular Albariño in 2017 and 2018, this 2016 shows fresher than the 2015 La Comtesse, which has more concentration and power, but this is subtler and more nuanced, fresher and a little more elegant and harmonious. 11,500 bottles produced. This shall rest in bottle for some six or seven months from now until it's released.
Other Vintages
2014-
Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling -
Wine
Spectator
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Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator
Pazo de Barrantes is part of the Marqués de Murrieta family, one of the founding fathers of modern Spanish winemaking. The winery has been associated to the Counts of Creixell since the beginning of the 20th century, and the property in the hands of the family since 1511. Over the years, the Count of Creixell´s family has given its own personality to every wine produced at the winery. In the 1990s, the Galician property turned into an estate designed specifically for the albariño growing, the great and noble local grape variety. This enabled the family to join all the efforts to offer careful and precise winemaking in the heart of the Salnés Valley.
The Pazo de Barrantes estate is located in the Salnés Valley of Rías Baixas and is the largest single estate in the valley. The property is close to the Galician coast in the western part of Spain, just north of Portugal. The winery is settled near the southern tip of the Rioja Alta in the middle of the beautiful Ygay Estate, a unique 300 hectare vineyard that guarantees complete control over the grape source of the wines and is the key to the quality and style of Marqués de Murrieta wines
Bright and aromatic with distinctive floral and fruity characteristics, Albariño has enjoyed a surge in popularity and an increase in plantings over the last couple of decades. Thick skins allow it to withstand the humid conditions of its homeland, Rías Baixas, Spain, free of malady, and produce a weighty but fresh white. Somm Secret—Albariño claims dual citizenship in Spain and Portugal. Under the name Alvarinho, it thrives in Portugal’s northwestern Vinho Verde region, which predictably, borders part of Spain’s Rías Baixas.
Named after the rías, or estuarine inlets, that flow as far as 20 miles inland, Rías Baixas is an Atlantic coastal region with a cool and wet maritime climate. The entire region claims soil based on granite bedrock, but the inlets create five subregions of slightly different growing environments for its prized white grape, Albariño.
Val do Salnés on the west coast is said to be the birthplace of Albariño; it is the coolest and wettest of all of the regions. Having been named as the original subregion, today it has the most area under vine and largest number of wineries.
Ribeira do Ulla in the north and inland along the Ulla River is the newest to be included. It is actually the birthplace of the Padrón pepper!
Soutomaior is the smallest region and is tucked up in the hills at the end of the inlet called Ria de Vigo. Its soils are light and sandy over granite.
O Rosal and Condado do Tea are the farthest south in Rías Baixas and their vineyards actually cover the northern slopes of the Miño River, facing the Vinho Verde region in Portugal on its southern bank.
Albariño gives this region its fame and covers 90% of the area under vine. Caiño blanco, Treixadura and Loureira as well as occasionally Torrontés and Godello are permitted in small amounts in blends with Albariño. Red grapes are not very popular but Mencía, Espadeiro and Caiño Tinto are permitted and grown.