An Albariño Surprise

When a grape surprises me, it reinvigorates my interest in it.  Like that birdie on the eighteenth after a miserable round of hacking away at the grass, it keeps one coming back.

Made in Galacia, in the noted Albariño region Rias Baixas, the 2015 Lusco is one of the more expressive and complex Albariños I've tasted.  I'm certainly not a derider of Albariño, but it's not my go-to white wine.  It could be if they were all like the Lusco.

The grapes are 100% Albariño from the Pazos de Lusco 12-acre estate.  The wine no doubt got a lot of its character from the aging process.  It enjoyed six months in tanks, in contact with the spent yeast cells, and another four months in the bottle.  Alcohol sits at 13%

This 100% Albariño has a nice golden hue, a little richer that is usual for the varietal.  On the nose, there is the expected spray of flowers, but an earthy note comes on strong, much to my liking.  It's a nutty aroma that mixes in with the citrus zest.  The palate also brings it, with a savory herbal aspect that honors the lemon beautifully.  The finish is medium long and loaded with lemon.

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Albariño: Contes De Albarei

Albariño is a lovely white wine grape that is predominant in Spain's northwest corner.  It's the reason they get out of bed every day in the Rias Baixas region of Galicia.  Snooth staged an online virtual tasting session featuring Albariño wines from Rias Baixas, and I was lucky enough to be invited.

The winery known as Condes de Albarei is located in Castrelo, a little town in the province of Ourense.  The winery was founded in 1988 by a group of Salnés Valley growers who wanted to concentrate on Albariño.  They picked a great place to do it, as the valley is reportedly the birthplace of the grape.  Those growers still own and run the place, so much into their work that they don't appear to have a website.

The estate vineyards cover more than 700 acres with mountains all around and the Umia River running through.  Alcohol in the wine is customary for the area, around 13.5% abv, and it sells for $14 or less online.

The Condes de Albarei Albariño wine is golden in the glass and smells of apricots and flowers.  The citrus comes across as a mix of lemon and tangerine.  On the palate, it's one of the more sippable Albariños I've tasted from the region.  The acidity is fresh but doesn't rip off one's tongue.  Flavors of Granny Smith apples and Meyer lemons come forward, along with some other fruits that may have been named after people.  It's an earthy drink that lasts a while on the finish.


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Albariño: Bodega Fillaboa

There's a Snooth virtual wine tasting coming up today that features Albariño wines from Spain's Rias Baixas region of Galicia.  I'm tasting nearly a dozen different Albariños for that reason - not because it's spring, or because it's almost summer, or because I love Albariño.  Although those are all reason enough.

The Fillaboa website leads with, "Creating is not an easy task when surrounded by so much noise."  That's how Bodega Fillaboa's owner decided to go for the peace and quiet of the Rias Baixas land where the 70-hectare estate is located in Salvatierra de Miño.  The "good daughter" referred to in the Galician name sits set off from its surroundings by an ancient stone bridge and stands as one of the oldest and biggest estates in Pontevedra.  The bodega is only 150 feet from the Portuguese border and 22 miles from the Atlantic Ocean.  They also make three spirits, or aguardientes, from their Albariño grapes.

The 2016 spring was rainy and the summer was the hottest and driest in the previous 50 years.  Alcohol in this wine is restrained, as is customary in the region, at 12.5% abv.  If this Albariño is an indication, the creating is very good at Fillaboa.

The Fillaboa Albariño 2016 has a bit more golden tint than usual, and bit more earthiness on the nose.  There’s still a bouquet of flowers to smell, along with apples and citrus.  On the palate there's a soft salinity that goes along with an almost racy acidity.  Green apples and limes come forth and linger on the finish. 

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Albariño: Pazo Señorans

There's a Snooth virtual wine tasting coming up on Wednesday that involves Albariño wines from Spain's Rias Baixas region of Galicia.  I'm tasting nearly a dozen different Albariños for that reason - not because it's spring, or because it’s almost summer, or because I love Albariño.  Although each of those reasons would have been enough to convince me.

The Rias Baixas Denomination of Origin was established in 1980, specifically for the Albariño grape.  Of course they had been making wine in the region for centuries before.  The winery credits 12th-century monks for providing inspiration to this day.  About a dozen grapes are permitted for making wine.

The winery is a former Galician ancestral country home (pazo) in the village of Señoráns, but it's not known which was named for which.  The vineyard's soil is largely broken down granite, which lends a strong mineral sensibility to the vines.  In addition to its line of Albariño wines, the bodega also features a distillery where they make a sort of Albariño brandy called aguardientes.  One variety is brilliantly golden while the other is clear.  Both are 100% Albariño, the golden one is made with skin contact, anise and cilantro seeds.  I did not taste them, but they sound quite interesting.

The wine is made in stainless steel tanks and alcohol hits the usual 12.5% abv. It sits on its lees during vinification, and that imparts a bit fuller mouth while maintaining that amazingly fresh acidity.

This Albariño shows lemon, lime and lanolin on the nose, with a whiff of apricot.  The pale color is golden straw, and the palate comes forth with a mighty acidity and a mouthful of green apples, on the tart side.  Minerality makes a big play, and the finish is medium-long with a citrus zestiness.


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Albariño: Altos De Torona

A virtual tasting session is coming on May 16th that involves Albariño wines from Spain's Rias Baixas region of Galicia.  It's being put on by Snooth and I'm tasting nearly a dozen different Albariños for that reason - not because it’s spring, or because it’s almost summer, or because I love Albariño.  Although each of those reasons would have been enough of a convincer.

Spain's Rias Baixas Denomination of Origin was established in 1980, specifically for the Albariño grape.  Of course they had been making wine in the region for centuries before.  In fact, the winery credits 12th-century monks for providing inspiration to this day.  About a dozen grapes are permitted in Rias Baixas for making wine.

Bodega Altos de Torona is located a stone's throw from the Miña River and slightly harder toss from the Atlantic Ocean.  The vineyard's position on the south-facing slopes shields it from the cold, wet weather found on the other side.  Winemaker Pablo Ibañez fermented this 100% Albariño wine in stainless steel to an alcohol level of 13% abv.

This pale Albariño has a citrus-first nose showing lemons, peaches and twist of tangerine.  The palate displays tart apples, lemon zest and some white pepper.  The acidity is fresh and the wine finishes very clean, with minerality lingering after the sip.

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Albariño: Laxas Of Rias Baixas

There's a Snooth virtual wine tasting coming up on May 16th which will involve Albariño wines from Spain’s Rias Baixas region of Galicia.  I'm tasting nearly a dozen different Albariños for that reason - not because it's spring, or because it's almost summer, or because I love Albariño.  Although each of those reasons would have been enough to convince me.

The Laxas bodega has been in the family since 1862, and they watch over their 13-acre estate vineyard with careful eyes.  The vines grow on steep terraces which look south over the Miña River in sandy, mineral-laden soil.  Winemaker Jorge Dominguez Hervella works with great fruit and makes the most of it, producing an Albariño that speaks of its land.  Alcohol on the 2017 Albariño checks in as 12.5% abv and it sells for around $18.

The 2017 Laxas Albariño is a pale yellow wine which has an interesting nose full of lemon-lime, apricot and a lanolin note.  A bit of earth peeks out amid the smell of white flowers.  The mouth is rather full, yet the acidity is fresh and zingy.  Lemony and tropical fruit flavors abound in a mineral-laden palate and leave me craving a calamari and scungilli salad.


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Albariño: Terras Gauda O Rosal

There's a Snooth virtual wine tasting coming up on May 16th that involves Albariño wines from Spain's Rias Baixas region of Galicia.  I'm tasting nearly a dozen different Albariños for that reason - not because it's spring, or because it's almost summer, or because I love Albariño.  Although each of those reasons would have been enough of a convincer.  I'll keep you posted on details, but it's usually easiest to jump on Twitter and join the fun.

Bodegas Terras Gauda makes their O Rosal Rias Biaxas from grapes grown in one of the subregions of Rias Baixas, O Rosal.  It's a little piece of land butted up against the Miño River to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the west.

Terras Gauda has three wineries and a vegetable cannery under its corporate umbrella.  The O Rosal Valley winery is a couple of decades old and now produces about 1.5 million bottles of wine each year.  This Albariño blend is their flagship wine.

The Terras Gauda O Rosal Rias Biaxas White Wine is not a varietal wine, which is how Albariño grapes are often vinified.  This one is 70% Albariño, 20% Caiño Blanco and 10% Loueira, the latter two grapes being found in the northeastern corner of the Iberian peninsula.  Its alcohol content is low at 12.5% abv and it sells for as little as $12 online.

This wine has a lovely golden-green hue and a brisk nose of stone fruit, Meyer lemon and flowers.  The palate shows those qualities plus a hefty load of minerals and acidity, enough to make oysters a great idea. 


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Albariño: Don Pedro De Sotomaior

Albariño is a lovely white wine grape that is predominant in Spain’s northwest corner. It's the reason they get out of bed every day in the Rias Baixas region of Galicia. It's also the driving force behind a winery known as Adegas Galegas. If you know the area, the company is in Salvaterra do Mino, nudged up against Portugal's northern border.

The firm's Don Pedro line concentrates on Rias Baixas and its heritage of Albariño. The wines are named for Don Pedro de Soutomaior, a 15th century knight and a hero of the region. There's reportedly some speculation that he was also Christopher Columbus. I could find no documentation that anyone ever saw them in the same room together, so maybe that’s true.

Winemaker Asunción Carballo leads a team of people who strive to produce wines which exhibit the character of the region. She rides atop a wave of talented female winemakers in Spain. The wine's alcohol content sits at 13% abv and it sells for just under 20 bucks.

This pale wine, the Don Pedro de Sotomaior Rias Baixas Albariño 2017, is subtle on its nose, with very light aromas of citrus and wet rocks. The sniff is not rendered tart by those descriptives, however. There is a softness to it that takes the edge away. The palate is another matter, as a rippingly joyous acidity makes itself known immediately. Flavors of crisp apples, lemons and a touch of orange are as vibrant as they seem here on the page, like a lovely spring day bathed in the cool wind of Galicia. The pleasure lasts long after the sip disappears. Pair this with fried calamari.

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Spain's White Refresher

Spanish white wines are special, especially during summer. Their refreshing acidity, buoyant fruit and steely minerality just beg to be taken outside with you for a picnic or just to the porch.

Maetierra says they are the only winery in Rioja that makes only white wines. Located in Calahorra, they use grapes from all over the country. It’s hot over much of Spain, but there are cool-climate regions near the Atlantic Ocean, and those places are where the grapes are grown for the Atlantis line.

The bodega started as a college experiment in 2001, just yesterday as far as Spanish wine history goes. Under Raul Acha's guidance the wines just keep on coming.

These Albariño grapes come from Rias Biaxas, on Spain’s northwestern edge, just north of Portugal and splashed by the Atlantic. The wine’s alcohol content comes in at 12.5% abv and the price seems to run about 12 bucks.

The Maetierra Atlantic Albariño is a pretty, pale golden wine. I love the nose. It shows a serious savory side, with a soapy salinity. There's great fruit in there, too, a gentle note of limes and tangerines. The palate brings plenty of minerals to the forefront with a racy acidity that really refreshes. Pair it with crab, oysters or peel-and-eat shrimp for a delight.

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The Spanish Refresher

Albariño is a grape of Spanish origin, and in the Rias Baixas region of northwest Spain it is pretty much king. Ninety percent of all the wine made in the area is Albariño.

Kobrand, the U.S. importer of Don Olegario Albariño, writes that Olegario is an "artisanal winery begun in the 1950s by Adolfo Falcón," and it's still a family affair. In the 1980s, Adolfo's son Olegario pushed the bodega to its present status as a top producer of Albariño. His five offspring now run things, with Roberto Carlos Falcón handling winemaking duties, while Fernando grows the grapes. María, Vanessa and Mónica are also involved in the day-to-day operation.

This wine has served up as one of the more enjoyable whites I drink all year for several vintages now. This reliable wine is tasty vintage after vintage. The 13% abv alcohol number makes for a light and easy sip, but it’s no pushover. The thread that runs through each vintage is that of minerality and acidity, so bring on the oysters.

The 2016 is pale gold and fresh-smelling. Green apple and lemon aromas are braced by a strident minerality. Those minerals really come forward on the palate, as do the apple and citrus flavors. The wine is ever so slightly frizzante in the glass, and the acidity rips across the taste buds.


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Sparkling Albarino

Spanish Wine: Albariño

The Spanish Albariño grape is the reigning king of varieties in the country’s Rias Baixas region. Related to the Alsatian Riesling grape, Albariño makes a white wine that usually offers a nice touch of sweetness amid a ton of citrus minerality.

The wine’s importer notes that Bodega Don Olegario was started some 60 years ago in the place that Albariño calls home.  Don Olegario is a 12-acre single vineyard with vines averaging 30-years of age growing in granitic, sandy soil that drains well. It is one of only a few single estates in Rías Baixas, where vineyard land is often divided among hundreds of growers. The growing is sustainable and harvesting is done by hand. The grapes are fermented in stainless steel tanks.

The wine sells in most places online for under $20 and has a well-restrained alcohol content of only 13% abv.

This 2015 Albariño pours up pretty in the glass - yellow-gold and a touch of bubbles. The bubbly sensation doesn't last too long, but it's festive while it’s there. The nose brings some citrus - of course - and a smattering of stone fruit and ripe apples. In the mouth, the magic really begins. The acidity is razor-sharp and a complete delight. The bottle should come with a dozen oysters. Flavors of apples and Meyer lemons grace the palate and you simply don't run out of minerals. There's a lot to like here, and it lasts long beyond the sip.


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Spanish Wine: Vionta Albariño

The way American wine drinkers go after Chardonnay, that’s how Spanish consumers feel about the Albariño grape.  It’s the white wine of choice on that big chunk of the Iberian peninsula, and with good reason.  It’s fresh, aromatic and downright tasty.  Not to mention, it pairs well with just about any kind of food.

This Vionta white wine is all Albariño from the Rias Baixas area of Galicia in northwest Spain.  It’s imported by the Ferrer family under the Freixenet banner.  I was kindly provided a sample of this wine for the purpose of review.

The 2014 vintage was a little light, yielding small bunches of grapes in late September that were highly concentrated as a result, according to the winery.  They say the vines are mostly over 15 years old.  More than two-thirds of the harvest was vinified "on the lees," or in contact with the spent yeast cells, lending roundness and weight to the mouthfeel.  The alcohol clocks in at 12.7% abv and the wine retails for $15.

The wine has a beautiful golden tint and smells of green apples and lemon/lime with just a hint of flowers.  On the palate, the apple notes are crisp and laced with citrus. There is a salinity that runs through it right into the finish and a bracing acidity that really makes it a refreshing sip. Pair it with fish, hummus or crackers and blue cheese.  The salinity also hits well alongside sweet cheeses.

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Tercero Wines Of Santa Barbara County

It had been a while since I stopped in on Larry Schaffer at his Los Olivos tasting room for Tercero Wines, so it was a great and pleasant surprise to see him in Los Angeles recently for a tasting event.

Schaffer uses grapes from some top-notch vineyard sites in Santa Barbara County to make his mostly-Rhônish wines. His reds seem to be what people really want to experience, but his whites are the show-stoppers, in my opinion. I love a good white wine, and the Tercero whites are much better than that.

Tercero 2013 Grenache Blanc, Santa Ynez Valley - This is possibly my favorite. It has a beautiful, savory nose and palate, with a slight funk and great acidity.  $25

Tercero 2014 Albarino, Santa Ynez Valley -  Funky and floral, the salinity comes through on the sip.  $25

Tercero 2014 Outlier Gewurztraminer - Floral to spare, but minerals make it more complex and less sweet than this grape usually turns out.  $25

2015 Mourvedre Rosé - Grapes from Vogelzang Vineyard, in the Happy Canyon AVA are footstomped and fermented, with some oak involved. The light cherry and strawberry flavors show wonderfully right now, and this rosé gets even better with age.  $25
 
Tercero 2011 Mourvedre Santa Barbara County - Schaffer likes the mix of warm and cool areas in a cool vintage, Larner and Camp Four vineyards being the draw here.  There is a great use of oak (nearly three years.)  He says it’s his best-selling red and he didn’t get to make an awful lot of the 2012 to be released soon.  $35

Tercero 2011 Grenache, Larner Vineyard, Ballard Canyon - This wine is muscular and savory. Shaffer calls it, "my favorite grenache," and you just may as well.  $35

Tercero 2015 Abberation - 40% Cinsault, 40% Grenache and 20% Mourvedre, all from the Camp 4 Vineyard in the newly created Los Olivos District. It’s a steel-aged red, and it takes a chill very well and still shows the dark earthiness of the soil.  $35


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Bonny Doon's Great Twist On Albariño: Bubbles

When you want a fresh look at a wine style, or a grape, Bonny Doon Vineyard in Santa Cruz can usually supply you with something of great interest. Randall Grahm's Sparkling Albariño 2010, Central Coast is a fantastic change of pace.

This fun - but complex - sparkler is made entirely from Central Coast Albariño grapes, 84% of which came from Jespersen Vineyard south of Paso Robles and 16% from Monterey County vineyard Rancho Solo. The traditional secondary fermentation that occurs in the bottle gives great bubbles - which dissipate rather quickly - but it is the 14 months of aging in contact with the yeast cells that brings the creamy aspect to the wine. At 12.5% abv, it’s light enough so you can enjoy a little extra. The wine retails for $36. Plus, how often do you get the chance to have a five-year-old Albariño?

Opening this bubbly is a little tricky. It comes under a bottle cap, not a cork, so you can't control the speed of the opening as with a more traditional closure. The Bonny Doon website notes that “the Sparkling Albariño is quite effervescent, so please use caution and patience when opening!” I worked my way around the cap, opening one crimp at a time, and lost very little of the contents.

The wine’s golden color shows its aging, and the nose shows the yeast. This is a powerfully yeasty wine, but the aroma of apricots and citrus is unmistakable. There is a faint layer of burnt caramel, and I also get a vegetal note that’s hard to pin down; maybe it’s peas, maybe okra. Whatever it is, it adds a dimension to an already complex aroma profile. On the palate, this wine is a lot drier than I expected it to be. Big lime notes join the Beauty-and-the-Yeast palate with a decent level of acidity and a big finish that hangs around a good long while.

Pairing with Korean barbecue is Grahm’s suggestion, and it’s an admirable one. I like it with sourdough bread and olive oil. Cashews pair well, too. I usually like wedding cake with sparkling wine - it goes so well with brut that I figure that’s why bubbly is served at so many nuptials. The extreme yeastiness of this one would not be a hit with the cake's icing, I fear. It was pretty good with a slice of cinnamon raisin bread, though.

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You Can Call Me Albariño

Albariño is a grape of Spanish origin, and in the Rias Baixas region it is pretty much king. The name means "white of the Rhine," I am told.  Albariño is, indeed, related to the Alsatian Riesling grape. Here in California we see a lot of home-grown Albariño, but it's always nice to have one we might call "the real McCoy," if McCoy was, indeed, a Spanish name. In this instance, we might refer to the wine in question as "the real Falcón."

Kobrand, the wine's U.S. importer, writes that Don Olegario is an "artisanal winery begun in the 1950s by Adolfo Falcón." In the 1980s, Adolfo's son Olegario pushed the bodega to its present status as a top producer of Albariño. The five offspring of Olegario now run things, with Roberto Carlos Falcón handling winemaking duties, while Fernando grows the grapes. María, Vanessa and Mónica are also involved in the day-to-day operation.

They point out that the winery is "a top producer of Albariño, the region’s most famous grape variety." The grapes for this Albariño come from a single, 12.4-acre vineyard which has 30-year-old vines growing in sandy and granite soils. "Sustainable winegrowing is used," relays the importer, and "the grapes are hand harvested and undergo a cold maceration before fermentation in stainless steel vats."

Bodega Don Olegario is one of only a few single estates in Rías Baixas, where vineyard land is often divided among hundreds of growers. This allows the bodega to control its fruit from field to bottle.

The 2014 Don Olegario Albariño Rias Baixas offers lots of limes and lemons with a touch of sweet pineapple on the nose. A nice streak of minerals rides through, as well. The palate shows citrus and green apples, joined by minerality galore. Great acidity makes for a predictably refreshing - and food friendly - quaff. Lemon flavors last well into the medium length finish. At 13% abv, the alcohol is reasonably restrained.

This wine is a beautiful aperitif, but save some for the seafood course, too. The minerality and acidity make it a great match for oysters, crustaceans and just plain old fish.

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Unexpected Napa: Artesa Albariño

The Napa Valley Vintners Association teamed up with The Daily Sip and the Sip’s editor-in-chief Karen MacNeil for a virtual wine tasting event which featured a sextet of “Unexpected Napa Wines.” What, exactly, are unexpected Napa wines? @TheDailySip tweeted the answer during the event. “We looked for classic estates making unexpected wines,” they chirped. “The #Napa Valley is a hotbed of American innovation,” they continued. “Traditions thrive and evolve while winemakers explore the new.”

The six wines tasted ranged from a mildly unexpected unoaked Chardonnay to quite unexpected California Albarino, Chenin Blanc and Petit Verdot to Fumé Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon - which I would say are far from unexpected in Napa Valley.

The #SipWithKaren wines:

Alpha Omega 2013 Unoaked Chardonnay
Artesa 2014 Albarino.
Cornerstone Cellars 2013 Chenin Blanc
Robert Mondavi Winery 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon
Robert Mondavi Winery 2013 Fume Blanc
St. Supery 2010 Dollarhide Petit Verdot

I was invited to join this little party and was provided samples of the wines for that purpose. I am covering them separately here.

Artesa 2014 Albariño

This unexpected wine is made from 100% Carneros Albariño grapes from the Artesa estate vineyard. Alcohol hits a moderate 13.9% abv in this refresher, fermented and aged in stainless steel (85%)
and new french oak barrels (15%) for five months.

The Artesa website talks terroir. "With its cool climate, Carneros is the perfect region for planting Spain’s most famous white grape – Albariño. This variety loves cool weather and ripens late without reaching high alcohol levels. For this reason we planted the now 20-year old vines in one of the coolest spots on our estate vineyard." Winemaker Ana Diogo-Draper utilized whole cluster pressing, which adds an herbal dimension that I love to find, particularly in a white wine.

@TheDailySip noted that "While only 19 acres of #albariño are planted in #Napa, @Artesa’s vineyard is 20 years old."  @sonadora is "Always surprised to see an Albarino from CA, especially from Napa!" @dvinewinetime commented that it is a "glass full of spun gold. Sweet banana & pineapple notes on the nose." Agreed. @KMacWine found "a distinctiveness to the fruit that makes Artesa #albariño distinctively #Napa, not #RiasBaixas. It’s ripe and long," she tweeted. @beerrabble liked the "perfume on the nose to start, slate on the mid palate-little tangy. nice on a warm night."

More tasting notes came from @SLHousman: "This Napa Artesa Albariño refreshing w/flavors of white peaches, lemons w/hints of bananas in the finish." @Hawk_Wakawaka loves "finding the unusual whites that do well in Napa. Albarino there was one of 1st new world spots for the variety." @DrinkWhatULike was whipped into a frenzy: "Whoa, holy peach/honeysuckle aromatics. Vibrant. Expressive. Lovely citrus acidity. Digging this." @Shona425 loved it, too. "Clean and crisp, not tart. A great option for a summer white."

This wine has more tropical fruit than Carmen Miranda's hat. Pineapples and bananas are sticking out in front, citrus and peaches on the sides and flowers all around. And those are just the smells. Take a swig of this chilled Albariño and let your fruit flag fly. But there is a nice hatband of minerality and a gentle lemon-lime note joined by a brimful of acidity. You'll want something like this anytime you find yourself under a Panama hat.


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Bonny Doon Vineyard Albariño Central Coast 2013

Spring is taking its dear, sweet time about settling in this year.  Earlier this month I was still noticing baseball umpires wearing heavy jackets and gloves in Chicago.  Of course, in Chicago that might be considered routine.  The coldest baseball game I ever attended was in Chicago on Memorial Day weekend.  My eternal gratitude goes out to the nice folks who sat next to me.  They brought an extra blanket.  And to the hot chocolate machine.  It was way too cold for a beer.

Here in Los Angeles, spring comes and goes all year long.  Summer has already started trying to crowd its way in.  The tourists in rented convertibles are starting to look like they aren’t freezing with the top down.  Whether your spring is swinging, or you need some help really feeling it, an Albrariño just might do the trick.

Randall Grahm’s Bonny Doon Vineyard has a recently released Albariño that is perfect for spring, and several other seasons, too.

Yes, the iconic “Rhône Ranger” also works his magic with the Iberian grape variety.  To hear him describe his minimal intervention winemaking, though, you get the impression there’s no magic involved.  You  may even think he simply throws some grapes in a tub, sits doon, waits a while and puts on a screw cap.  That’s not true, though.  Mr. Grahm has a machine which puts on the screw caps.

The Bonny Doon website offers a brief intro to Albariño:  “Until 1989 Albariño was one of the rarest wine varieties in the world, rarely glimpsed outside the Iberian Peninsula. Since that time, this light yet vibrant white grape has become a darling of wine geeks worldwide with its preternatural ability to pair with all types of seafood, cheese and salty dishes.”

The grapes for the 2013 Bonny Doon Albariño are Central Coast fruit, all Albariño.  73% of the grapes were grown in Kristy Vineyard in the Salinas Valley while the other 27% are from Edna Valley’s Jespersen Ranch.  Grahm notes that both sites are windy and cool during the summer.

The wine’s alcohol content of 13.2% makes it a perfect choice for spring and summer refreshment.  To paraphrase the brewer’s old ad copy, it’s a great wine for "when you’re having more than one."  Production was 1,592 cases and the wine retails for $18.

Pale straw in color with just a hint of green tint, the wine looks slightly frizzante in the glass.  A ring of small bubbles cling to the rim.  One sniff brings springtime into full focus.  A floral note of hibiscus mingles with peaches, pears and citrus mineral notes.  The palate shows some very nice mineral-laden salinity riding herd over the peach and lemon peel flavors.  There’s boat load of acidity, so the wine is completely refreshing.  It's also a great food wine.  Look for some Thai food or shellfish to make it really sing.


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