Winemaker Notes
The 2017 Albariño opens with fresh and vibrant aromatics of Meyer lemon and wildflower honey. On the palate, acid-driven flavors of lemon pastille and Asian pear complement layers of minerality and sur lie creaminess. The wine finishes with nerve and great energy.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Ransom nails it with this tart and tasty take on the Spanish grape. It’s loaded with rich fruit flavors of lemon, lime and grapefruit, with the acidity rounded out and the alcohol under 12%. In other words, an ideal warm weather white, fermented in a mix of stainless steel and neutral oak. Editors’ Choice
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.
Running north to south, adjacent to the Willamette River, the Eola-Amity Hills AVA has shallow and well-drained soils created from ancient lava flows (called Jory), marine sediments, rocks and alluvial deposits. These soils force vine roots to dig deep, producing small grapes with great concentration.
Like in the McMinnville sub-AVA, cold Pacific air streams in via the Van Duzer Corridor and assists the maintenance of higher acidity in its grapes. This great concentration, combined with marked acidity, give the Eola-Amity Hills wines—namely Pinot noir—their distinct character. While the region covers 40,000 acres, no more than 1,400 acres are covered in vine.