Summer's 2019 wine route through Spain and Portugal was all about increasing my familiarity with producers I've been enamored with for a long time. Of course, traversing three weeks through land steeped in such rich history is going to also provide some revelations. In all, there was no single introduction to a wine that made things stand still like they did one night at the must-visit Mesón A Curva restaurant in Galicia when their owner blind-poured a glass. The reveal: a joint project between Rodrigo Mendez & a guy you may have heard of named Raul Perez, their Forjas del Salnes Rias Baixas Albariño.

Less than 1,000 bottles were produced of the 2013 Leirana. Like production numbers may lead you to believe, this is as unique and singular a wine as I've ever had from Galicia. Val do Salnes, the birthplace of Albariño is the coolest of the five subzones of Rias Baixas. With average temperatures here of 60 degrees between April and October, one would expect these Albariños on pure granite to showcase the most heightened sense of tension and salinity. But, the most profound trait in Leirana is centered around multi-layered textures and that ultimate elusive chase to find density without weight.

Rodrigo and Raul approached this micro-production cuvée with an eye on deep experimentation. This particular parcel of 1954-1964-planted Albariño vines comes from an incredibly sandy section over granite. This cuvée is only produced in cool growing seasons. Grapes see partial skin-contact fermentation, with malolactic blocked to preserve the verve that's so indicative of these sandy soils that mirror a beach setting. A single foudre is used for fermentation, and wine is aged in stainless steel for six years prior to bottling.

The orchard fruit tones of Albariño veers heavily into the under-ripe white pear register, with Meyer lemon and orange peel building a greater presence on the mid-palate. The real magic of Leirana comes in the beautifully incisive finish that simultaneously embodies a more rounded frame of acidity that's, at once, mouth-watering in its freshness, but with driving waves of layered complexity that continue to change and linger long after swallowing.

Galician winemakers are more focused than ever before on wines that compel with their levity instead of power. Leirana strikes me as the one project that's found a way to instill both of these virtues with a balance that inhibits any one descriptor from standing front-and-center. If Grand Cru white Burgundy perhaps exemplifies this balancing act the very best, I'd highly suggest you get acquainted with north-west Spain's boldest feat.

Click here to shop Forjas del Salnes wines

"This is Volnay meets Cote de Brouilly—super fresh, focused, with red fruits and wild aromatics of flowers and herbs." — José Pastor, Importer

After weeks on the road covering nearly every corner of Spain, I walked away with a lot of epiphanies, but none surpassed the thrill I had during my introduction to Alberto Nanclares. His traditional pergola-trained Albariños from Cambados, the seaside village with vines just meters from the Atlantic, marked a massive shift in my understanding of what descriptors like crystalline and acid-driven can truly mean in the context of Spanish white wine.

Today, I'm happy to offer Alberto Nanclares' 2018 Rias Baixas Albariño.

Legendary Spanish importer, José Pastor, has been the gateway to so many new Spanish discoveries, like Envínate and Luis Rodriguez, to name a couple. Nanclares follows a philosophy in the vines and the cellar that Pastor has used as his foundation in building such a critical and impressive portfolio of ultra-attentive, thoughtful growers-producers.

In 1992, Alberto Nanclares and his wife chose to leave their native Basque country and settle in this extreme Atlantic Ocean setting in the beautifully green and lush northwest Galicia region. Organic viticulture is no easy task in Rias Baixas, as the high humidity and constant rainfall have meant conventional farming with chemicals, and extremely high yields are the overwhelming norm. There was a gradual shift over the years for Nanclares to get his parcels farmed the right way, through painstaking labor.

If you, like me, put Roulot's Meursault at the top of your wish list, you will be pleasantly surprised by what you'll find from this naturalist in the most historic and traditional village of Rias Baixas. Like Roulot's Meursault, "Nanclares" wows the senses with that unmistakable mineral spring-like purity and acid-driven frame that levitates on the palate. This parcel of granite bedrock with sandy topsoil captures the very most ocean-influenced personality of Albariño, with white peach and white flowers melding with faint almond notes on the finish. Aging in a combination of older French tina barrels and stainless steel.

La Tinaja de Aranzazu is sourced from a west-facing parcel of 30-plus-yr-old Albariño vines located in the village of Meaño - here, on sandy granitic soil next to Nanclares' home. Fermented in a single tinaja (amphora) with aging on fine lees for 9 months. A more textural style to pair with the celebrated, rich seafood of Galicia.

Minato da Rana Tinto is sourced from a very steep vineyard of 100-plus-yr-old-vines planted on granite at 600 meters. 60% Mencía, 30% Garnacha Tintorera, with 10% Godello & Palomino. Whole cluster fermented in 600L open-top wood fermenters for 20 days. Then to 500L French barrels for malolactic and 9 months aging.