Nanclares y Prieto 'Alberto Nanclares' Albarino 2021

2021 Albariño de Alberto Nanclares
Val do Salnes, Rias Baixas

$49.99 each

On the cooler and greener side of things, we have more fantastic Albarino.  I just got a look at some Nanclares Albarino 2021, we see a few cases in NC and then poof it’s gone.  Nanclares is making waves and doing it the right way, letting the quality speak for itself. As far as style these are very similar to Zarate, nervy, taught, with clear fruit expression laced with salinity and minerality.  This is the regional blend and is comprised of 8 parcels across the Val do Salnes in Rias Baixas.  No rating yet and this is about as finessed and filigreed a vintage as you'll get in these global warming years, quite the rare treat!  Past reviews have always been solid, since 2015 through 2020 it has never scored below a 93 from the Wine Advocate (93-94 every year).

• 100% Albariño from 8 of Alberto and Silvia’s top parcels
• Vines range in age from 15 to 95 years from east-facing sites
• Planted on a mix of decomposed granitic soils and sandy loam
• The hand -harvested grapes were gently pressed in a pneumatic press without destemming into stainless steel tanks (73%) and used French oak barrels (27%)
• Rests on the lees for 9 months with weekly batonnage for the first month
• Alcohol: 11.5%
• Total acidity: 7.6 g/L
• pH: 3.37

Alberto Nanclares and Silvia Prieto make transparent, Atlantic -influenced wines, mainly with Albariño from old vines around the village of Cambados. Employing organic farming practices and a restrained hand in the cellar, the pair have managed something very rare: the refinement of Albariño into angular, age -worthy wines that express the fascinating terruños of Cambados and Rías Baixas . Alberto and Silvia currently own 5 hectares of Albariño in the Val do Salnés, all trained in the traditional Pergola style and divided into 12 small parcels in the parroquias of Castrelo (South Cambados), Vilariño (North Cambados) and Padrenda (North Meaño). The essence of their approach is reverence for the vineyard, from organic farming to fermentation by native yeasts . To express the edginess of the naturally high in acidity Albariño grape, he eschews adding potassium, which is what many in Rías Baixas use to de -acidify and soften their wines. Malolactic fermen - tation rarely occurs, and the wines spend a good amount of time (often a year or more) on their lees before being bottled without clarification or filtration.