Our Albariño vines are over 20 years old and grow on a quad trellising system that can be susceptible to sunburn. With this in mind, the harvest date needs to be very specific; if not, the grapes can either have little flavor or be too soft skinned if the pick date is missed only by a few days. These grapes were in excellent condition when harvested, offering a balance of ripeness and retaining freshness. Our Albariño were our first grapes of the season to be harvested early in the morning of September 10th 2019. The brix level was 23 Brix at the time of harvest, with about 3.1 tons per acre.

The fruit was pressed right away using our inert press system. This press ensures that little to no oxygen comes in contact with the juice, resulting in brighter, fresher product. After pressing, the pH came in rather high at 3.70. So an acid addition was made to lower the overall pH. The Albariño finished cold fermentation on October 28th 2019 with a very slow fermentation rate. This is due to Albariño needing to be racked and fermented very clean, so this wine required lots of settling. The wine was heat stabilized, cold stabilized, and filtered right before bottling in February 2020.

The wine presents clear with straw hues, youthful in age with plus acidity. On the palate, minerality characteristics show through with stone notes, coupled with tropical melon and a hint of apple. With low acidity, this is a drink-now wine for a warm summer’s day. Suggested pairing is Cajun cuisine, or any type of seafood.