Simon's Wine Of The Week - Reveleste Albarino 

Posted in: Features / Tags: Football, Wine, Tasting, Summer, Wine of the Week, Simon Jarvis

It’s coming home.

Simon’s Wine of the Week Is Reveleste Albarino 

Now I’m sure plenty of you have had this wine (I hear it’s a palpable hit Chez Bowers) so you might be wondering why I’ve chosen such a well-known wine for my Wine of the Week. Well firstly today is World Albarino Day, so I really had to go for that grape. And secondly, I had this wine again at a tasting last week and it’s so absolutely delicious that I couldn’t resist it.

Albarino is native to Northwest Spain and Northern Portugal (where it is known as Alvarinho) where it loves a coastal vineyard. In Spain it is most famously grown in Rias Baixas (a region that, to my shame, after 20 years in the wine business I still can’t pronounce correctly). Rias Baixas is cooler and much wetter than the rest of Spain which suits the grape as the soils are well-drained which helps against the onset of rot (the sworn enemy of the grape). Albarino also has fairly thick skins which helps as well. Finally, grapes are traditionally grown high on trellises which allows cool breezes to dry the grapes after rainfall.

In Portugal it was traditionally used as one of the grapes in Vinho Verde, but more and more winemakers are bottling it on its own.

 

Reveleste is made by Bodegas Laureatus who make another premium Albarino in our portfolio (which is also utterly delicious). Originally one of the top suppliers of Atlantic shellfish in Spain, they have only recently branched out into wine. They focus exclusively on Albarino, and their state-of-the-art winery produces some of the best wines we’ve come across from the region.

I’ve had this on quite a few occasions, and it never ever fails to deliver. On the nose there’s a veritable smorgasbord of fruit aromas vying for your attention – pineapple, peach, mango, lemon, and apricot are all in there. On the palate it gets pretty intense with even more flavours joining the throng; melon, peach and lime join all the aromas for a majestic fruit battle in your mouth. It’s nice, full, and rich but with just the right amount of fresh acidity to balance it all out. Finally, there’s a bracing slap of mineral salinity to make you crave just one more glug.

On an aesthetic note, the packaging on this wine is fantastic. It would grace any a table and people would stop and marvel.

In terms of food matching this wine is obviously a shoo in for shellfish, but would partner beautifully with barbecued sardines on the beach on a sunny day, a plate of Padron peppers, or a decent Caesar salad (one with anchovies on – accept no imitations).

Have a great week,

Simon

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