Winemaker Notes
The unique winemaking techniques and talents of lifelong viticulturalist, Rodri Mendez, make for a very interesting project. This Albarino undergoes a process ranging from free run, natural must, to skin fermentation, to foudre fermentation to resting in a stainless steel tank.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
One of the wines of the vintage has to be the 2018 Leirana Finca Genoveva, produced with 200-year-old vines from an exceptional harvest and matured in 2,500-liter oak foudres, where it matured for one year with lees until bottling. This 2018 might be a little more reductive and benefits from some time in the glass, so this would be a candidate for decanting if you open it now. This is a lot more civilized than the 2015; this is gentler and more elegant, and there is great balance. This is a version of Genoveva that drinks well early on—the grapes ripen thoroughly, and it's all in its place—but there's freshness and stuffing for a long life in bottle. 5,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in September 2019.
Range:96+
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.