Lagar de Pintos "3000 Cepas" Albarino 2023

Marta Castro-Pintos represents the fourth generation at her family's pazo (traditional Galician manor house) in Ribadumia, in the heart of Rías Baixas' Val do Salnés—the coolest, foggiest, most Atlantic-influenced of the region's subzones. What began as a sheep and cattle farm turned to vines in the 1950s, and Marta has spent the 2000s converting the estate to organic farming, becoming a pioneer on that front locally.

"3,000 Cepas" refers to a manual selection of the estate's oldest vines—many ungrafted, all over 60 years old. Fermented in oak with weekly bâtonnage and aged 12 months on the lees without malolactic fermentation, then rested another year in bottle before release, this is Albariño built for depth rather than immediate freshness: ripe fruit, anise, and white flowers woven through well-integrated oak, with a powerful, voluminous palate and real mineral drive underneath. Only 4,000 bottles made.

Pair it with grilled octopus, shellfish, or a good rice dish.

Region: Val do Salnés, Rías Baixas, Spain
Variety: Albariño
Vineyard: Old vines, 60+ years, many ungrafted
Farming: Organic
Winemaking: Oak-fermented with bâtonnage, no malolactic, extended lees and bottle aging

Explicitly delicious.