Whether you’re north of the river Miño and call it Albariño, or south of the Minho and call it Alvarinho, there’s no question: this noble grape is having its moment in the sun. Originally a hyperlocal specialty of just a few districts like Cambados in Galicia’s Salnés and Monçao/Melgaço in northern Portugal, Albariño has conquered a far wider territory than it held even just a few decades ago, and there’s no question why when one realizes that the DO of Rías Baixas, over 90% of which is planted to the grape, is currently exporting 50% more volume than it did even a decade ago.
Start popping corks and this justly deserved popularity becomes even more immediate. The standard among quality producers– an enviable roster of which Skurnik is privileged to represent– has never been higher, and the wines are ravishing. Their coastal, northerly origin helps maintain salty, racy refreshment even in the face of a warming climate but with juuust a kiss of aromatic, tropical fruit depth to keep them on the hither side of austerity. What’s not to love?
Today we’re exploring seven superb go-to wines that represent an excellent cross-section of Albariño: four from the Salnés Valley, that historic granite-pergola wonderland; one that blends Salnés with more southerly fruit from O Rosal for a unique balance; a textbook Portuguese example from Monçao e Melgaço, the great Alvarinho growth of Portugal’s Vinho Verde zone; and finally, a Californian example whose cheeky ebullience is the perfect foil to the viticultural tradition of Portuguese emigrants to the Sacramento River Delta.
ALBAMAR RÍAS BAIXAS ALBARIÑO 2024
• 100% Albariño
• Hand-harvested from a wide range of parcels, mostly on granite, in and around Castrelo (Cambados) in the Salnés Valley
• Spontaneously fermented and raised primarily in tank with a small percentage of neutral oak foudre
• No malolactic
Albamar’s Xurxo Alba has rocketed into the top echelon of Rías Baixas, and one taste of his freshly-arrived 2024 estate Albariño will tell you why, loud and clear. Imagine sea spray dripping off a granite outcrop straight into your glass and you’re on the right track. This is one of the definitive contemporary producers of true, unadorned Salnés Albariño and he’s operating at the height of his powers. Don’t miss it.
ATALIER BY RAÚL PÉREZ ALBARIÑO RÍAS BAIXAS ‘A CRUZ DAS ÁNIMAS’ 2023
• 100% Albariño
• Sourced from a pre-phylloxera site in Dena in the Salnés Valley on granitic sand
• Whole-cluster pressed and fermented spontaneously in thoroughly seasoned French oak foudres
• No malolactic
• 12 months on the fine lees in barrel before bottling
While the legendary Raúl Pérez is most closely associated with Bierzo, his home region, for many years he’s collaborated on various projects with his great friend Rodri Méndez (of Forjas del Salnés), including Atalier, which debuted in the 2016 vintage. Extremely old vines and neutral oak offer us a wine with bottomless depths of fruit riding on a thrilling wave of Atlantic acidity.
GRANBAZÁN ALBARIÑO, RÍAS BAIXAS, ‘ETIQUETA VERDE’ 2024
• 100% Albariño
• Grapes are hand-harvested and destemmed
• 8-hour pre-fermentation maceration
• Fermented with indigenous yeasts in tank
• Aged on the lees for no less than four months before bottling
One of the original pioneers of the Albariño revolution in the 1980s, the iconic Granbazán estate just outside Cambados in the Salnés Valley continues at the top of its game today, with Mosel-trained Diego Ríos at the helm turning out utterly classic wines including this beloved ‘Green Label’. Many a blind tasting group over the years has sought the essence of the Salnés in this very bottle…
LAGAR DE FORNELOS RÍAS BAIXAS ALBARIÑO ‘LAGAR DE CERVERA’ 2024
• 100% Albariño sourced from Finca Silvosa in O Rosal and Viña Deiro in Salnés
• Fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel
• No malolactic
• Aged for six months in tank on the fine lees with periodic stirring
Winemaker Olga Verde crafts this unique expression based on grapes from the superb Finca Silvosa vineyard in O Rosal, the southernmost subzone of Rías Baixas. This elevated, forest-encircled planting wedged between the northern border of Portugal and the outlet of the Miño river into the Atlantic provides the perfect foil to a component of Salnés fruit in the blend. Verde finds this freshly-released 2024 vintage to be a direct conduit to the classic, Atlantic expression of the zone, and we have to agree!
VAL DE MEIGAS ALBARIÑO RÍAS BAIXAS 2024
• 100% Albariño
• Destemmed and direct pressed
• Fermented with indigenous yeast in tank
• Rested on fine lees in tank 3 months before bottling
Winemaker Rebeca Barral hails from one of the appellation’s founding families in Ribadumia in the Salnés. After working both for her family and abroad perfecting her craft, she returned in 2016 to launch her own smaller project, Val de Meigas. The name was chosen in loving reference to the meigas, or ‘witches’, classic folkloric characters in Galicia. You’d be hard-pressed to find better quality and value for 100% Salnés Albariño than at this address.
ANSELMO MENDES VINHO VERDE ALVARINHO ‘MUROS ANTIGOS’ 2024
• 100% Alvarinho from granitic soils in Monçao e Melgaço.
• Hand-harvested.
• Fermented with indigenous yeast in tank with 4-month elevage on the lees.
Over a long and storied career, Anselmo Mendes (famously nicknamed “Senhor Alvarinho” in the Portuguese press) has been one of the prime exponents of a serious, high-quality style of Vinho Verde that completely eschews the carbonic gas and residual sugar associated with more commercial examples from the region. His ‘Muros Antigos’ bottling gets straight to the core of the famed Monçao and Melgaço subzone of the appellation, considered the top crus for this grape in Portugal.
CARBONISTE ALBARIÑO EXTRA BRUT ‘GOMES VYD’ 2023
• 100% Albariño
• Sourced from the Gomes Vineyard
• Whole cluster pressed and settled for 2 days
• Fermented in tank with native yeast for 3 weeks (no malolactic fermentation)
• Secondary fermentation in bottle for 2 months
• Disgorged and topped with light dosage and crown cap
Founded by Jacqueline and Dan Person, Carboniste is on a mission to reimagine California sparkling wine. Inspired by the state’s coastal fruit and unconstrained by Champagne tradition, their wines are bright, modern, and unmistakably Californian. With backgrounds in winemaking and microbiology, the duo brings precision, playfulness, and a spirit of experimentation to every bottle— none more so than this extra-brut Albariño, a fitting tribute to the Portuguese-American farming heritage of the Sacramento Delta.
Reach out to your Skurnik Wines & Spirits representative to explore these offerings and discover how they can elevate your program.
