Winemaker Notes
This salty, medium-bodied white wine has aromas of honeysuckle and river stones. Flavors of apricots and roasted pears lead to a lingering zingy finish.
Blend: 70% Albariño, 25% Treixadura, 5% Loureiro
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
There is no 2019 vintage of Rebisaca or the special bottlings; it was a shorter vintage, and they didn't bottle anything other than the regular Do Ferreiro and the Cepas Vellas. The 2020 Rebisaca is a blend of Albariño from Salnés with 25% Treixadura and 5% Loureira from the Condado de Tea. 2020 was not an easy harvest in Condado de Tea; there was more mildew, and it was a low-yielding year that saw an earlier harvest than Salnés. It's a blend of varieties and zones and has nice structure and aromatic complexity. It has a balanced mouthfeel (a signature of 2020?), with the balsamic/herbal touch of the Loureira, a nice bitter twist on the finish and a certain austerity.
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.