Winemaker Notes
Brilliant straw yellow with green reflections. High intensity and marked varietal character. Pleasant mouthfeel, without edges, with a well-defined volume until the retronasal.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The very young and faintly reductive 2021 Albariño is only 12.5% alcohol (the 2020 is 13.5%). It's austere, sharp and vibrant, and the back label specifies one to three years, which to me is not its drinking window but the time you should wait before pulling the cork... It's quite shy and austere, like sea breeze and spring water. It should develop further complexity with age. This has to be one of the most elegant and ethereal vintages for this wine.
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Vinous
The 2021 Albariño Colección from Salnés, Rías Baixas, aged for six months on lees in tank. It is shy on the nose, with apple compote, bread notes, flowers and subtle evolution. Moderate freshness and creamy texture frame a light fruit note on the finish.
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.