Alberto Nanclares y Prieto "Dandelion" Albariño, Rías Baixas, Spain 2024

FROM JOSÉ PASTOR:

THE WINE: 100% Albariño from 10 organically farmed inland plots of 25–45-year-old vines in the villages of Cambados, Ribadumia, Meaño, Meis and Barro, planted on sandy, decomposed granite soils and are trained in the traditional Pergola style that facilitates aeration. The hand-harvested grapes are gently pressed in a pneumatic press into stainless steel tanks without destemming. The wine ferments and rests in tank on its lees for 5-7 months, with weekly batonnage for the first 1-3 months. Bottled without stabilization or clarification, and with only a gentle mechanical filtration and small addition of SO2.

THE PRODUCER: Alberto Nanclares and Silvia Prieto make transparent, Atlantic-influenced wines, mainly with Albariño from old vines around the village of Cambados. Employing organic farming practices and a restrained hand in the cellar, the pair have managed something very rare: the refinement of Albariño into angular, age-worthy wines that express the fascinating terruños of Cambados and Rías Baixas.