Blog » Rias Baixas
-
Power & Levity: Forjas del Salnes Albariño
My tour through Spain and Portugal in the summer of 2018 was to better familiarize myself with producers I had been enamored with for a long time. Of course, traversing through this land steeped in rich history was going to provide some new revelations. At one dinner, the owner of Mesón A Curva restaurant in Galicia blind-poured us a stunning glass of wine. The big reveal was: Forjas del Salnes's Rias Baixas "Goliardo" Albariño, a joint project between Rodrigo Mendez and Raul Perez.
Albariño's birthplace, Val do Salnes, is the coolest of the five subzones of Rias Baixas. Galician winemakers are more focused than ever on wines with levity instead of power, though Forjas del Salnes has found a way to instill both of these virtues with a balance.
Goliardo a Telleira comes from a 1973-planted Albariño parcel on sand and granite soils—sourced from the same site as Raúl Perez's famous Sketch bottling. The grapes see partial skin-contact fermentation with malolactic blocked to preserve the wine's verve. A single foudre is used for fermentation, then the wine is transferred to stainless steel for several months before bottling.
The other bottling, Leirana, is as unique and singular a wine as I've had from Galicia. From vines planted between 1952 and 1982, the most profound trait in Leirana is centered around multi-layered textures and that ultimate elusive density without weight. Less than 1,000 bottles produced of both wines!Shop Forjas del Salnes
-
Heaven Sent Albariño: 2020 Nanclares y Prieto
Legendary U.S. importer José Pastor has been the gateway to many new Spanish discoveries, including Envínate and Luis Rodriguez. Alberto Nanclares and Silvia Prieto in Cambados marked a massive shift in my understanding of descriptors like "crystalline" and "acid-driven" when it comes to the Spanish white wine category.
Like Dauvissat's La Forest in Chablis, there's an element of clay in the soil here (mixed with decomposed granite) that gives these wines more texture and breadth on the palate. Nanclares y Prieto's Paraje Manzaniña parcel, in particular, produces a powerful and saturating style of Albariño still founded upon a fresh streak and salty, long finish. 2020 Rias Baixas was generally about half a degree less in alcohol, and like Burgundy and Mosel, it was all about balance this vintage.
In 1992, Nanclares and Prieto left Basque country and settled in the beautifully green and lush northwest Galicia region. Organic viticulture is no easy task in Rias Baixas, as high humidity and constant rainfall mean conventional farming with chemicals and high yields are the overwhelming norm. Nanclares gradually shifted over the years to farm his parcels the right way through painstaking labor.Shop Nanclares y Prieto
Recent Articles
-
Power & Levity: Forjas del Salnes Albariño September 23, 2022
-
Heaven Sent Albariño: 2020 Nanclares y Prieto June 23, 2022
Tags
- Abruzzo
- Aged
- Albarino
- Albillo
- Aligote
- Alpine
- Alsace
- Altesse
- Alto Piemonte
- Amarone
- American Oak
- Amphora
- Anjou
- Antonio Galloni
- Apertif
- Arbois
- Arbois-Pupillin
- Argentina
- Austria
- Avize
- Ayl
- Bandol
- Barbaresco
- Barolo
- Beaujolais
- Beaune
- Beer
- Belgium
- Bianco
- Bien Nacido
- Bierzo
- Biodynamic
- Blanc de Blancs
- Bordeaux
- Botti
- Bourgogne
- Bourgueil
- Breze
- Brouilly
- Brunello di Montalcino
- Brut
- Burgundian
- Burgundy
- Cabernet Franc
- Cabernet Sauvignon
- California
- Campania
- Canary Islands
- Cannonau
- Carbonic
- Carema
- Carignan
- Carricante
- Cellar Worthy
- Cerasuolo
- Chablis
- Chambolle Musigny
- Champagne
- Chardonnay
- Charly Foucault
- Chassagne Montrachet
- Chateau Chalon
- Chateauneuf du Pape
- Chavignol
- Chehalem Mountains
- Chenin Blanc
- Chianti Classico
- Chinon
- Chiroubles
- Cider
- Cinsault
- Clairette
- Clos
- Columbia Gorge
- Cool Climate
- Coombsville
- Cornas
- Corsica
- Cortese
- Cote de Beaune
- Cote de Brouilly
- cote de nuits
- Cote Rotie
- Coteaux de Dijon
- Cotes des Blancs
- Cotes du Jura
- Cotes du Rhone
- Crozes Hermitage
- Dauvissat
- Destemmed
- Diatomaceous
- Dijon
- Dolcetto
- Dolomites
- Dominique Lafon
- Dry Riesling
- Ecueil
- Eola-Amity Hills
- Eric Asimov
- Etna
- Extra Brut
- Fiano di Avellino
- Fleurie
- Fort Ross-Seaview
- France
- Frappato
- French Alps
- Friuli
- Galicia
- Gamay
- Gang of Four
- Garnacha
- Gattinara
- Germany
- gevrey chambertin
- Giachino
- Gigondas
- Glou Glou
- Good Value
- Gran Reserva
- Grand Cru
- Granite
- Grenache
- Grenache Gris
- Grosser Ring
- Grosses Gewachs
- Grower Champagne
- Haut-Medoc
- Hermitage
- IGT
- Italy
- Jacquere
- Jon Bonne
- José Pastor
- Jura
- Kermit Lynch
- Kimmeridgian Soil
- Kupp
- Lambic
- Langhe
- Languedoc
- Late Release
- Le Mesnil
- Left Bank
- Left Bank Bordeaux
- Les Riceys
- Lessona
- Limestone
- Loire
- Loire Valley
- Louis/Dressner
- Low Sulfur
- Macabeau
- Macon
- Madrid
- Malvasia
- Margaux
- Marsannay
- Mascarello
- Mediterranean
- medoc
- Melon de Bourgogne
- Mencia
- Mendocino
- Mercurey
- Merlot
- Meursault
- Minerality
- Mondeuse
- Monopole
- Mont Blanc
- Montagne de Reims
- Montefalco
- Montepulciano
- Monthelie
- Morey-Saint-Denis
- Morgon
- Mosel
- Mourvedre
- Muscadet
- Nahe
- Napa Valley
- Natural Wine
- Neal Rosenthal
- Nebbiolo
- Nerello Mascalese
- Nero d'Avola
- New California
- New Oak
- New Release
- New York Times
- Next Generation
- No Sulfur
- Noble Reduction
- Northen Rhone
- Northern Italy
- Northern Rhone
- Nuits Saint Georges
- Nuits-Saint-Georges
- Oak Knoll District
- Oakville
- Old School
- Old Vines
- Old World
- Orange
- Oregon
- Organic
- Passetoutgrain
- Patagonia
- Penedes
- Pfalz
- Piedmont
- Pineau d'Aunis
- Pinot Noir
- Ploussard
- Pommard
- Portugal
- Poulsard
- Pre-Phylloxera
- Premier Cru
- Priorat
- Provence
- Puligny Montrachet
- Puligny-Montrachet
- Radda
- Rajat Parr
- Raul Perez
- Red
- Regnie
- Reserva
- Reserve
- Rheinhessen
- Rhone
- Rhone Valley
- Rias Baixas
- Ribeira Sacra
- Riesling
- Right Bank
- Rioja
- riserva
- Rose
- Rosso
- Roussillon
- Ruwer Valley
- Saar
- Sagrantino
- Saint Aubin
- Saint Bris
- Saint Esteph
- saint joseph
- Sancerre
- Sangiovese
- Sans Soufre
- Santa Barbara
- Santa Barbara County
- Santa Cruz Mountains
- Santa Maria Valley
- Sardinia
- Sashi Moorman
- Saumur
- Saumur-Champigny
- Sauvignon Blanc
- Savagnin
- Savigny les Beaune
- Savoie
- Sciacacarellu
- Semi-Carbonic
- Serine
- Seven Springs Vineyard
- Sicily
- Sierra de Gredos
- Single Vineyard
- Skin Contact
- Sonoma
- Sonoma Coast
- Sour Beer
- Southern France
- Southern Rhone
- Spain
- Sparkling
- St. Helena
- Sta. Rita Hills
- Stainless Steel
- Styria
- Summer
- Syrah
- Tempranillo
- Teroldego
- To Kalon
- Touriga Nacional
- Trebbiano
- Trentino
- Trousseau
- Tuscany
- UC Davis
- Umbria
- US
- USA
- Valle D'Aosta
- Valpolicella
- Value
- Veneto
- Verduno
- Vermentino
- Vermouth
- Verzy
- Vieilles Vignes
- vielles vignes
- Villages
- Vinho Verde
- Vinous
- Viognier
- Vittoria
- Volcanic
- Volnay
- Vom Boden
- Vosne Romanee
- Vosne-Romanee
- White
- White Burgundy
- Whole Cluster
- Willamette Valley
- Wink Lorch
- Woman Owned
- Woman Winemaker
- Zev Rovine
- Zinfandel