Dan:
“La Vitoriana”
The wine about which you posted is a superb bottle of Albarino from a parcel of 150 year-old vines. His “Sketch” Albarino has about two more gears. It’s not inexpensive at about $75, but it would have lots of fancy pants white Burgundy running and ducking for cover.
perfect, exactly the response i was looking for…thanks Sarah
Dan, I’ve found generally La Poulosa is the most accessible drinking young. I believe Raul considers El Rapolao the “grand cru” vineyard and these generally need the most age. Recently had a '14 an was still drinking very young.
If you really want to go down the rabbit hole he has an Ultreia line. The Ultreia St Jacques is the entry level and a blend. The 18s recently came out and are widely available and to me one of the best qpr wines out there (can find it in the US usually around $16).
I just drank through all four of these in the last couple of weeks to contemplate what to buy from the new vintage. My favorite at this moment was the Rapalao. It was the most complete and integrated of the four at this time. I normally prefer the Poulosa over the others as it has more of cool-fruited presentation that is more red than black on the fruit spectrum. All 4 of the 2016s were delicious, by the way, so there isn’t really a wrong answer here.
I will second the Ultreia Saint Jacques recommendation. I “go big” on this one every year with a six-pack purchase (that’s big for me). At the price, it is a crazy value.
Cheers,
fred
Just picked up a bottle of Atalier 2019 and the retailer said this is one of the wines Raul vinifies under water - can’t find confirmation of that, on this wine. Anyone know? I was pushed to get it because of its complexity and minerality, so I’m definitely interested
Hmmm. I don’t think the Atalier, though I could be wrong. He does do something under water, but I am not recalling what.
Perez ages some of his wines, like the Rara Avis, under flor. Could the retailer have been thinking of that?
Regardless, it’s a great wine, a joy to drink. Hope you enjoy.
I was thinking the same, after reading up on Raul a bit - don’t think Atalier would be under water, as the price wouldn’t be in this range. He mentioned 8 months in bottle under water, but likely thinking of Rara Avis
Agreed - under water would be priced differently.
The Rara Avis is definitely under flor in cask for something like 5-6 years, but I don’t think under water after bottling.
The wine often referenced as being aged underwater is “Sketch”, but I have no idea whether that statement is actually true.
See for example this article: Why Are These Wine Producers Aging Their Bottles Under The Sea? | VinePair
Sketch is the one he has aged under water but the bottles aged under water, are never actually sold to the public. It’s just something he has done to see the effects, etc. Sketch is his most expensive white ($70-$80). I have a few bottles but haven’t tried any yet. I think Atalier is a fantastic wine for the money, so tend to load up on that.
I’m rescuing this thread because I’ve had several bottles of the 2019 Atalier this year and just want to add to the applause and ask for some advice.
In the Spring they had a slight touch of what I call the Albariño bite: the (to me) salty, grapefruity acidity most felt in stainless-steel Albariño that makes swallowing take more effort than say swallowing water. But a recent bottle had completely integrated into perfect balance. It could be cork variation to happen so fast. I don’t know. But boy does this wine now come across as top-of-the-line stuff. A slightly saline bouquet of lemony flowers. Then a vibrant yet super smooth mouthfeel with a fantastically long finish.
I still have two bottles left but I’m seriously considering back-filling, though I’m not sure how long it’ll hold this peak (Sarah mentioned “a while” for the “serious” ones but I’m not quite sure how to apply that). Is this even the peak? Maybe it has more to give.
It might also help if anyone knows how 2020 compares to 2019 in Rias Baixas.
Regardless, this is amazing and underrated stuff.
Any thoughts on how this compares to Do Ferreiro’s entry level?
Guillermo,
Thanks for the note.
I have a glass of the 2019 in my hand right now. Even though I import two Rias Baixas, I now will buy this every year.
Yes, my bottle has the ‘bite’, a good term, although I don’t find the acidity to be much like grapefruit. The bite and the salinity are a lot of what I enjoy, but I also enjoy this bottling at 3 years, when that begins to mellow. I had my last bottle of 2018 a few months ago and it lined up with your description of your most recent bottle of 2019, which sounds a little more advanced than mine.
Sorry, I have yet to taste a 2020 Rias Baixas, so can’t help there, but based on what I’m tasting right now a backfill on 2019 sounds very sensible.
Dan Kravitz
The DF is more rounded in mouthfeel and has more peachy flavor.
Thank you Dan.
Yes, I agree that the bite is enjoyable and is also part of what makes it especially refreshing on a hot day. I apologize if my first comment made it seem like I don’t enjoy it. The wine is still great with it.
It was its surprising (to me) integration/maturation into more of a wine for all seasons (classically speaking) that made me rescue this thread. My feeling is most people (and I’m certainly guilty) don’t give Albariños any significant bottle time and so miss out on this other experience, which I’m guessing the use of wood in Atalier helps reach.
(I’ve never had Eulogio Pomares’s Zarate El Palomar, which is very highly rated. It sees wood like this one. Maybe it achieves the same at twice the price. But that one goes through malo which this one doesn’t.)
I think I will back fill with enough for next year and see how it goes as you suggest. It’s inexpensive enough (for now) to experiment.
The base Zarate is also very good, though not as acidic or mineral as Atalier on release, and thus I tend to not age them too long. The Zarate is still closer in style to the Atalier than the base Do Ferreiro.
I have not had Do Ferreiro or Pomares, but I like Rias Baixas enough to look for them if prices are not crazy.
I am down to a few bottles of 2019 Atalier, will also backfill. My last 2018 at 3 years was so good that I will see about holding a few bottles past the 3 year mark. I’ve always thought that fine Albarino needed at least a year of bottle age to peak, but will now see if they can go longer.
Dan Kravitz
Moving this post from the Recent buys thread to this thread so everyone who loves Atalier learns the terrible news that Sarah found out about.
Say it ain’t so! I only bought a 6-pack of the 2020 and already drank one. ![[cry.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/853b6e76c6e8406be77a6727c2a27ad1672678b3.gif "cry"){kind=small}
That’s my favorite Albariño. What happened?
And do you have any recommendations on what to buy moving forward? (Having re-read this thread, nothing sounds like a suitable substitute.)
I don’t know any details. The somm at a top restaurant in Asturias, who carries Raul Perez’s wines, told us it would be the last vintage. He also said he thinks it needs 10 years to be ready, but I can’t support that assertion.
There isn’t really a substitute, but Raul himself makes other excellent wines, and there are many other strong producers.
Thank you Sarah.
What I like about the Atalier is that it’s half-wood, half-stainless and there’s no malo. So it’s fresh but has some weight to it (and my guess is keeping the wood to half also keeps the costs/price under control). I haven’t found any other producer who takes that approach on paper. Do you know of any?