Pedralonga Albariño 'Barrica' 2021

Fuelled by Albariño’s surge in popularity, Spain’s Rías Baixas has seen an influx of vinous prospectors hoping to strike gold, but in turn flooding the market with some rather bland, mass-market expressions sourced from all over the region.

Standing in contrast, Miguel Alfonso of Pedralonga in Val do Salnes is one of a handful of growers using biodynamic farming and native yeast fermentations to craft singular wines that express the 7ha of contiguous vineyards planted 30 years ago by his father. Having never been farmed with chemicals, these granite-rich slopes are abundant with life.

Combining the Atlantic’s piquant salinity with yellow fruit and a creamy texture from malolactic fermentation, Miguel’s Albariño’s – ‘Terra de Godos’, ‘Barrica’, and ‘Vendetta’ – “kick the living crud out of a Sancerre” (Jon Bonné).

Aged in French oak barrels and rested on the lees for 6 months. White peach, pear, and smoke. Long and lightly honeyed.