Winemaker Notes
Clean and bright, greenish-yellow colour and golden reflections. Aromatically, it stands out for its marked varietal character and intensity, with white fruit notes -delicious golden apple and ripe pear- as well as stone fruit, particularly apricot, and hints of lemon peel. Fresh and vibrant on the palate, with excellent structure, intensity and balance. It retains a saline aftertaste and a long, lingering finish.
Ideal with appetizers, seafood and fish. Recommended with soft cheese, Asian food, rice, pasta and poultry dishes.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Oyster shells, kelp, chalk and some melons on the nose. Saline and zesty on the palate with a medium body and a salty finish. Round in texture, but has a sharpness, too, from the saline minerality and acidity. Delicious and gastronomic.
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Wine Enthusiast
This light-straw-colored wine has a nose of mango, pineapple and just-picked roses. A nice floral note underlies toasted pineapple, white-peach, herbes de Provence and roasted fennel-bulb flavors. A soft note of sea spray remains on the taste buds alongside shimmering acidity.
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Decanter
Floral, honeyed, creamy nose with hints of saltiness. Succulent on the palate, full of energy, juicy and lemon, green apple fruit. Layered with green herbs, raspberries, and passion fruit. Loads of aniseed on finish.
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Vinous
The 2022 Albariño Lagar de Cervera hails from the O Rosal and Salnes areas within Rías Baixas. With a yellow hue, the tropical and herbal nose presents enticing notes of peach and pyrazine. Rich and vibrant on the palate, the saline and malic mouthfeel leads to a potent, long-lasting, flavorful finish. This is a technically-crafted, terroir-driven wine.
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.