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| | | | | A cuvée of Doña Blanca, Treixadura, Branco Lexítimo, and Verdello; planted primarily in sandy slate with clay in addition to some granite and limestone; indigenous fermentation in stainless steel; no malolactic fermentation
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| ▪ "The 2021 Alanda Blanco is a village wine from Monterrei, a blend of Doña Blanca, Treixadura, Branco Lexítimo, and Verdello that reflects the diversity of soils, altitudes and expositions. The varieties fermented together, being added to the vat progressively, and 1,500 liters matured in a used French oak foudre for 15 months and the rest was kept in stainless steel. It's pale, young and austere, more about soil and rocks than fruit, with notions of wet granite and dry flowers. It has contained ripeness, 13% alcohol, very good acidity, freshness, and balance, with a sense of purity and transparency that is common to all whites here. It has depth, energy, and light and extra vibrancy this year. It could very well be the finest white Alanda to date. Bottled June 2023.
José Luis Mateo is the name behind Quinta da Muradella, the quality leader of Monterrei in Galicia. He's constantly trying to find ways to improve, studying his soils, even reducing the surface of vineyards he works (some 15 hectares, all owned by him, all worked organically and certified organic since 2005, despite the fact that the wines do not carry certifications) and restructuring his range to achieve more reflection of the terroir in his wines. They are amazingly fresh and focused, especially the whites - quite a challenge in a warm region .... Highly recommended." Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate
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| | | | 100% Verdejo by Didier Belondrade and Brigitte Lurton (formerly of Château Climens in Barsac and Château Bouscaut in Pessac-Léognan); fermented and aged on its lees in 300L French oak; each plot is fermented and aged separately; indigenous fermentation followed by 10-12 months of maturation
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| ▪ "The 2021 Belondrade y Lurton is showing superb, pure, crystalline, clean, pure, and expressive, delicate, elegant and subtle. The oak feels perfectly integrated despite being a very young wine. It has notes of white flowers, orange peel, hints of peach, and dry hay and is quite varietal, with a faint bitter twist on the finish that, to me, is a textbook descriptor of the Verdejos from yesteryear."
Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate
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| ▪ "In my opinion, this is one of the two greatest dry whites being made in Spain ..." Robert M. Parker, Jr., Wine Advocate
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| | | | 56% Xarel·lo, 44% Macabeo (aka Viura); from the oldest vines on the Recaredo estates at Can Romeu (Sant Sadurní d’Anoia), La Pedra Blanca (Subirats), and Can Rosell de la Serra (Torrelavit), all in the Alt Penedès region
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| ▪ "Colour: yellow; Aroma: fine lees, fragrant herbs, characterful, ripe fruit, dried nuts, elegant; Palate: flavourful with a fine bead and fine bitter notes." Guía Peñín
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| ▪ "The 2014 vintage of the estate's flagship sparkling wine saw 68 months of lees ageing. A blend of 56% Xarel·lo and 44% Macabeo, it's more sweet-spiced on the nose compared to the 2017 vintage, with still-fresh green and yellow apples and hints of crushed almonds. Bone-dry on the palate with 5.1g/L of total acidity. Elegant and textured, the crunchy green fruits are enriched by bruised apple and sourdough notes, leading to a long finish." Sylvia Wu, Decanter Magazine
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| | | | A cuvée of Treixadura, Albariño, Lado, and Torrontés; from the lowest yielding old vines planted on steep granite hillsides; this top-of-the-range release is only produced in the best vintages; indigenous fermentaiton in a variety of sizes of French oak, raised on the lees for 12 months, and further aged in bottle for 36 months; 'escolma' means 'selection' in Gallego
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| ▪ "The current vintage of the top of the range in white is the 2015 Viña de Martín Escolma Blanco. Luis Anxo talks about a very good vintage, and he's always quite prudent and humble, which means the vintage was no less than excellent, with perfect weather that allowed picking each plot of white at the right time and the red ripened properly. Here, he wants to express 'our way of understanding wine: ancestral varieties and lands, manual and respectful viticulture, forcing low yields, minimal intervention, and a relatively long time in the cellar. We want a complex wine - but direct and intimate.' This is a blend of Treixadura, Albariño, Lado, and Torrontés from his oldest vineyards on poor soils that deliver only one kilogram per plant.
Each plot ferments separately with indigenous yeasts in new or semi-new 300-, 500- or 600-Liter oak barrels, where the wine is kept on lees for one year, then blended and bottled. It's kept 3 years in bottle and sold the November 4 years after the harvest. This is a quiet and serious wine - like its creator - subtle, elegant, and nuanced. It has notes of herbs and spices, pollen, and beeswax. This is a super balanced vintage, with ripeness, concentration, freshness, and elegance in rare combination. This feels very young and seems to be evolving at a very slow pace and should make old bones. I've had wines from Luis Anxo close to 30 years old, and they are still going strong, so my drinking window is very conservative. Only 4,800 bottles and 200 magnums were filled in December 2016.
I have a clear preference for the white wines here, which, more often than not, show better 5 to 10 years after the harvest than earlier .... The 2015s were showing great, from a very good, powerful vintage. Luis Anxo is often credited as not only one of the best growers in Ribeiro but in the whole of Galicia. He vinifies only the grapes from his vineyards, so he's in the colleiteiro category."
Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate
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