D.O. Rías Baixas, Spain - 100% Albariño. Xurxo produces from a plot of 6,000 m2 that has been rented in Castrelo. From that plot, he made a grape selection of the oldest vines with which he produced 1,000 liters. The harvest was carried out manually and pressed whole without destemming, slightly sulphited and defoliated for 2 days prior to fermentation with autochthonous yeasts in stainless steel tanks. It remained 15 months with its lees after which it was bottled without clarifying or filtering or sulphiting, proceeding directly to the bottling.
It shows a profile of albariño totally different from a conventional albariño. It has an oxidative character in the nose where the notes of sea and apple, seaweed and granitic soil predominate. The palate is savory and crunchy, saline, bitter and deep. A different and original version of Albariño. Limited edition of 1300 bottles. It is recommended to oxygenate it in a decanter for half an hour. Recommended by The Sommelier.
Albamar O Sebal 2019
The Albamar winery is one of the most prestigious wineries in recent years in Rías Baixas, since Xurxo Alba took the reins of the family winery. Luis, his father, was the one who planted the vines when Xurxo was a child and was in charge of making the first wine of the house that he sold without labeling in the "Furancho" (local in the private dwelling of the winemakers where the surplus of the harvest accompanied by tapas and various dishes), which his mother Isabel runs, where she is known for cooking "the best potato omelet" in the area.
Xurxo Alba studied viticulture and oenology at Ponteareas and after a while as a consultant in 2013 he started working exclusively for the family winery. Since then, the quality of its wines has not stopped improving year after year. In the vineyard he went from making a viticulture to a viticulture far more respectful and less interventionist, in the winery stopped using commercial yeasts in favor of the natives, currently presses the white grapes with whole bunch and many of their wines have stopped making malolactic except in some wines like this O Sebal, Alma de Mar and O Pereiro. All these changes in the viticulture and in the elaboration have favored wines with more personality and authenticity.
