94pts Wine Advocate (2022, 2023 not yet rated)
The 2022 Tomada do Sapo comes from a vineyard that gives the wine its name. It was replanted and is therefore young, but it has a special character with vibrant acidity and salinity. It's a higher-altitude place that has more influence from the fog than the sea. It's the last to be harvested, and the grapes develop more aromas and flavors in a slow ripeness. This is super tasty and saline, with good ripeness and a balanced 13% alcohol. Only 1,800 bottles were filled in July 2023. Drinking Window: 2023 - 2032

Gerardo Méndez and his family work 165 plots of vines, a total of 14 hectares in the Valle del Salnés in Rías Baixas. 2021 is a classical vintage going back to the weather from yesteryear; 2022, which they compare with 2010, is an extreme vintage with very dry and warm weather.

Tomada do Sapo is an exceptional, extremely limited new cuvée from a unique Clos vineyard (enclosed by stone walls) in the Salnés subzone called Tomada do Sapo, where vines are planted near a forest, facing the Ría de Pontevedra in the village of Meaño. Albariño is grown on hard, decomposed granite soils with a calcareous clay base, located at the highest elevation of the region at 250m above the winery in a slightly cooler climate with more fog and wind than other areas. It is a place with a lot of influence from the Ría de Pontevedra, hence a heavy influence from the sea and fog and therefore prone to rot. When the vines were pergola trained in this vineyard, the vines generated lots of botrytis, and as a result, they were only able to pick grapes one year out of every three. Tomada do Sapo was completely replanted with a massale selection from their Cepas Vellas vineyard to trellised vines at a very high density with guyot pruning in 2013 to experiment with the system for the aeration it provides for this specific plot. Gerardo Méndez was the first grower in the region to plant at this high of an altitude.

Tomada do Sapo is harmonious, mineral, and precise, with pronounced salinity and a broad but fresh palate. It is the last vineyard to be harvested each year because of the high altitude, and it has complete ripeness and good acidity, which makes it capable of improving in bottle for ten years or more.