Zárate El Palomar 2024

El Palomar is a 0.32-hectare plot located in the Val do Salnés, at the heart of the Rías Baixas appellation, in Galicia. Considered the oldest known Albariño vineyard, it was planted around 150 years ago. Its old roots dig deep into decomposed granite soil, at some fifty metres above sea level, under a cool, humid Atlantic climate that encourages slow ripening and preserves dazzling acidity.

These century-old vines, trained on parra, the traditional Galician pergola, benefited in 2024 from an oceanic year marked by slow, even ripening. The wine is aged in a 2,200-litre French oak vat, where it goes through malolactic fermentation. This ageing adds texture without masking the granite minerality and reveals a fresh, taut and highly aromatic Albariño, both concentrated and vibrant.

This wine reveals notes of lime, white tea, warm stone, sea spray, grapefruit, acacia blossom, pear and citron zest. The bright pale yellow colour with green glints introduces a straight, vertical wine. On the palate, chiselled acidity carries fine yet concentrated substance, driven by an almost electric energy. The granite minerality brings a persistent salinity, before a long, sleek finish combining purity of fruit, precision and racy elegance.

The history of wine in Spain is so ancient that no one really knows who first brought the vines to the region. By the time the Phoenicians arrived some 3,000 years ago and founded the present-day cities of Cádiz and Jerez, viticulture was already well established, and Spanish wines were widely traded throughout the Mediterranean and North Africa. You could say that Spain is a winemaking miracle. After years on the sidelines of the world of fine wines, it is now a major player. Investment and ambition in vineyards and wineries are resulting in increasingly rich, complex (often high in alcohol), and spicy reds that are gaining popularity with international consumers. Proud to have more land dedicated to vines than any other country, Spain is only now beginning to capitalize on this resource in a consistent way. Spain is a chaotic jumble of regions and subregions, much like its landscape is a chaotic jumble of incredibly rugged scenery. A glance at a map reveals the climatic diversity among Spain's many wine regions, from the lush, green vineyards of Galicia on the northern Atlantic coast to the parched vineyards of the southeastern Mediterranean. Spain's saving grace for viticulture is the average altitude of its vineyards, which is over 600 meters. Many Spanish vineyards are thus able to produce grapes with good color and acidity simply because nighttime temperatures are relatively low and the grapes don't ripen until after a sufficiently long growing season. But there is a real treasure trove to be found for those willing to dig, and now that a class of connoisseurs has developed in Spain, all sorts 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 experiment with grape varieties that would have been unthinkable not so long ago. Wine remains an important commodity and an integral part of Spanish culture.