Winemaker Notes
Xurxo makes this wine from 100% Albariño from a tiny 1 ha vineyard of 35 year old vines grown organically on clay soils over sand. All of the farming is organic, in a place where that is challenging. This is an unbelievable bottle of salty, minerally, and bright wine from Galicia that may be unmatched in it's precision or quality. A must taste!
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The stony and mineral 2023 Finca O Pereiro comes from a plot that was planted in 2004 on clay soils that usually give it more weight on the palate, but this year I find it to be very streamlined, austere and mineral, very tasty, almost salty. It fermented in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts—like all the wines here—and halfway through the fermentation, it was transferred to oak foudre where it matured for nine months. It has 13% alcohol and a pH of 3.24, keeping 6.1 grams of acidity. It is complex, deep and harmonious, with clout and elegance and a vibrant and salty mouthfeel.
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James Suckling
This has an expressive nose of white flowers, grapefruit and a hint of sea stones. The palate is medium- to full-bodied with fresh acidity and an austere profile that requires some time. From a single vineyard planted on deep clay soils. This was fermented and aged in a 2,500-liter foudre.
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Vinous
The 2023 Albariño Finca O Pereiro, from Castrelo, Salnés, Rías Baixas grows on sandy, clay-rich soils once touched by the sea. It offers an appealing reductive note and moderate aromas. On the palate, salinity, freshness and tension balance a fatty, voluptuous character. Intriguing and delicious.
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.