Nanclares y Prieto Nanclares 2022

This cuvée comes from plots in the Val do Salnés, in the heart of Atlantic Galicia, within the D.O. Rías Baixas. The vines, spread mainly between the villages of Cambados and Portas, are rooted in decomposed granite and sandy silt soils, sometimes rich in organic matter. This maritime landscape gives the Albariño grape a fresh, saline and deeply mineral expression.

The grapes are selected by hand and transported in small crates. They are whole-bunch pressed, without destemming, at low pressure in a pneumatic press. Fermentation takes place with native yeasts, in stainless-steel tanks and used French oak vessels. The wine then spends nine months on the lees, with regular bâtonnage, before bottling without fining.

This wine reveals notes of passion fruit, banana, lychee, white peach, lemon, grapefruit, fennel, white flowers, fresh herbs, balsam and wet stone. The palate combines a supple, slightly creamy texture with energetic, well-integrated acidity; its saline backbone, subtle herbal relief and persistent finish give it plenty of drive.

The history of wine in Spain is so ancient that no one really knows who brought the first vines to the region. When the Phoenicians arrived some 3,000 years ago and founded the present-day cities of Cádiz and Jerez, winegrowing was well established, and Spanish wines were widely traded throughout the Mediterranean and North Africa. You could say that Spain is a winegrowing miracle. After years on the sidelines of the fine wine world, it is now a major player. Investment and ambition in the vineyards and wineries are producing increasingly rich, complex (often very high in alcohol) and spicy reds that are more and more popular with international consumers. Proud to have more land under vine than any other country, Spain is only just beginning to capitalise on this resource consistently. Spain is an anarchic tangle of regions and sub-regions, just as its landscape is an anarchic tangle of incredibly rugged scenery. A glance at a map reveals the climatic diversity between Spain's many wine regions, from the green, rain-soaked vineyards of Galicia on the northern Atlantic coast to the sun-baked vineyards of the Mediterranean south-east. Spain's saving grace, as far as viticulture is concerned, is the average altitude of its vineyards, over 600 metres. Much of Spain's vineyard land therefore manages to produce grapes with good colour and acidity simply because night-time temperatures are relatively low and the grapes do not ripen until the end of a sufficiently long growing season. But there is real treasure to be found for those willing to dig, and now that a class of connoisseurs has developed in Spain, all kinds of ambitious investors have done their part to change the image of Spanish wine. Today a new generation of winemakers has quietly begun to craft spectacular wines and to experiment with grape varieties that would have been unthinkable until recently. Wine remains an important commodity and an integral part of Spanish culture.