Winemaker Notes
On the nose, this wine bursts with spicy citrus and salty zest. There is a seductive orange blossom and jasmine aspect paired with what I dub as Hawaiian breakfast fruits. You can definitely smell the sea influence on this wine as there are briny notes that speak to the nearby Pacific Ocean. White flower notes are ever so present, but an exotic mix of citrus and tropical fruit reigns.
On the palate, this wine is full of tang and energy. Our Albariño never lacks acidity. In fact, managing that high acidity presents one of our biggest challenges, yet that is our greatest gift. There is a rich assembly of citrus, white fruits, stone fruit, and tropicals that are all corralled with bright acidity from start to finish. A lingering freshness and minerality cements Albariño as the one varietal that is queen of the sea.
Blend: 100% Albarino
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Clean aromas of crisp pear are coated in a wet-stone veil on the nose of this bottling. The texture is impressive on the palate, giving a rocky backbone to the rounded pear, apple and melon flavors.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2021 Cadre Sea Queen Albarino is pleasing from start to finish. TASTING NOTES: This wine shines with aromas and flavors of dried earth, green apple, and a hint of chalk. Enjoy it with steamed mussels with an accent of red chili flakes. (Tasted: August 17, 2022, San Francisco, CA)
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.
California’s coolest wine growing area, Edna Valley excels in the production of high quality Central Coast wines like Pinot noir, Chardonnay, Rhône Blends and aromatic white wines. It has a cool Mediterranean climate and an incredibly long growing season, giving late-ripening varieties plenty of opportunity to develop great phenolic complexity.
Its northwest to southeast orientation creates a direct path for cool Pacific air and fog to penetrate the valley from the Los Osos and Morro Bay area inwards. Low hillsides of both calcareous and volcanic soils are home to much of the vineyard acreage of the Edna Valley.