Pazo de Barrantes Albarino 2018
-
James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker -
Wine &
Spirits -
Wine
Spectator - Decanter
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Pairs beautifully with grilled queen scallop over truffled potatoes and cavia, mille-feuille filled with smoked eel, white asparagus pudding, white shrimp with mint, marinated sardine, grapefuit jam and blood orange.
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
This is very creamy and beautiful with crushed apples and pears. Lemons. Really tangy. Full body. I really like the combination of dry fruit and zingy acidity. Wonderful example.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Albariño from a year that was wet until July, followed by a warm and dry summer that balanced the year, when they started harvesting on the 20th of September, more or less normal dates. The wine feels fresher and cooler than the 2017, like an upgraded version of the 2016, with more body and structure but keeping very good acidity. This was kept with the lees for two months. It feels young and tender, a little reductive right now, so it might need to be decanted if consumed early. It should come into a subtler profile with a little more time in bottle. I've always said that good Albariño is better in its second, third or fourth year in bottle, and this is no exception. While I like the clout of the 2017, I admire the subtleness and freshness of this 2018. Rating: 91+
-
Wine & Spirits
Citrus and salt come together in this savory albariño from the family estate of the Condes de Creixell the current count, Vicente Dalmau CebriánSagarriga, also owns Marqués de Murrieta in Rioja. This wine is a classical albariño, from its pale pear and lime flavors to its smoky salt water–taffy scents and creamy richness. Its mineral intensity will mellow with age, or in the company of pulpo gallego.
-
Wine Spectator
This white has weight and focus. Lime, quince and blanched almond flavors mingle over tangy acidity, accented by herbal and briny notes. Firm and fresh. Drink now through 2024.
-
Decanter
Super-young and fresh: this could be a classic tasting note for Albariño. But this is a fine example of where it’s worth buying another bottle. By all means enjoy one now for its vivid freshness, but keep the other for a year or three and see how it becomes richer and more complex. Which you prefer is very personal. Pazo Barrantes is owned by the Marqués de Murrieta.
Other Vintages
2020-
Wine &
Spirits
-
Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling -
Wine
Spectator
-
Robert
Parker
-
Robert
Parker
-
James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker
-
Robert
Parker
- Decanter
-
Wine &
Spirits
-
Robert
Parker
-
Wine &
Spirits
Pazo de Barrantes is part of the Marqués de Murrieta family, one of the founding fathers of modern Spanish winemaking. The winery has been associated to the Counts of Creixell since the beginning of the 20th century, and the property in the hands of the family since 1511. Over the years, the Count of Creixell´s family has given its own personality to every wine produced at the winery. In the 1990s, the Galician property turned into an estate designed specifically for the albariño growing, the great and noble local grape variety. This enabled the family to join all the efforts to offer careful and precise winemaking in the heart of the Salnés Valley.
The Pazo de Barrantes estate is located in the Salnés Valley of Rías Baixas and is the largest single estate in the valley. The property is close to the Galician coast in the western part of Spain, just north of Portugal. The winery is settled near the southern tip of the Rioja Alta in the middle of the beautiful Ygay Estate, a unique 300 hectare vineyard that guarantees complete control over the grape source of the wines and is the key to the quality and style of Marqués de Murrieta wines
Bright and aromatic with distinctive floral and fruity characteristics, Albariño has enjoyed a surge in popularity and an increase in plantings over the last couple of decades. Thick skins allow it to withstand the humid conditions of its homeland, Rías Baixas, Spain, free of malady, and produce a weighty but fresh white. Somm Secret—Albariño claims dual citizenship in Spain and Portugal. Under the name Alvarinho, it thrives in Portugal’s northwestern Vinho Verde region, which predictably, borders part of Spain’s Rías Baixas.
Named after the rías, or estuarine inlets, that flow as far as 20 miles inland, Rías Baixas is an Atlantic coastal region with a cool and wet maritime climate. The entire region claims soil based on granite bedrock, but the inlets create five subregions of slightly different growing environments for its prized white grape, Albariño.
Val do Salnés on the west coast is said to be the birthplace of Albariño; it is the coolest and wettest of all of the regions. Having been named as the original subregion, today it has the most area under vine and largest number of wineries.
Ribeira do Ulla in the north and inland along the Ulla River is the newest to be included. It is actually the birthplace of the Padrón pepper!
Soutomaior is the smallest region and is tucked up in the hills at the end of the inlet called Ria de Vigo. Its soils are light and sandy over granite.
O Rosal and Condado do Tea are the farthest south in Rías Baixas and their vineyards actually cover the northern slopes of the Miño River, facing the Vinho Verde region in Portugal on its southern bank.
Albariño gives this region its fame and covers 90% of the area under vine. Caiño blanco, Treixadura and Loureira as well as occasionally Torrontés and Godello are permitted in small amounts in blends with Albariño. Red grapes are not very popular but Mencía, Espadeiro and Caiño Tinto are permitted and grown.