Wine of the week
Keeping it Real. This week Phil Mugford goes barefoot into the mountains searching for the Real deal.
Pies Descalzos 2018 (Bodegas Marañones)
D.O. Vinos de Madrid
Variety: Albillo Real
ABV: 14%
€26.70 from Enoteca Barolo (2019 vintage)
Our wine of the week features a member of the Albillo family; a thin-skinned bunch who enjoy the sun on their backs.
While Gredos garnacha is, quite rightly, attracting plaudits, it's the white grape Albillo Real that can lay claim to being Madrid's one true autochthonous variety. Not to be confused with its cousins Albillo Mayor, prevalent in the Ribera del Duero region, or Albilla de Manchuela, a variety being lovingly cared for by the Ponce brothers in the province of Cuenca, Albillo Real has a long and regal history, hence the moniker Real which means royal in Spanish.
The variety is first mentioned in the 15th century, during Spain’s Siglo de Oro, or golden age, when Cervantes, Quevedo and Lope de Vega were at the peak of their literary powers and King Philip II was a strong patron of the arts. Back then it was no more than a humble table grape but that changed with the boom in moscatel and the desire to find a local variety that could be vinified to such a degree that it would satiate the monarchical thirst.
Fast forward 500 years, and while Albillo Real no longer enjoys such royal standing, it is still a variety that's capable of producing fine, age-worthy wine. A handful of producers in the west of Madrid, predominantly around the town of San Martín de Valdeiglesias, and in Cebreros, a town across the border in Ávila, are working with the variety and the results are often excellent.
Albillo Real in San Martín de Valdeiglesias
Laid-back sun worshipper it may be, but pushover it ain't. Go too far into the mountains and Albillo Real will clam up on you. It needs heat to aid its early ripening so spring frosts can easily decimate a vintage. It's always been the first variety harvested in these parts, and picking generally starts early to mid-August.
As Vinos Ambiz founder Fabio Bartolomei told me recently, the picking date for Albillo Real is crucial. "You have around 12 to 24 hours to pick before the acidity drops off a cliff. Tasting off the vine and knowing your individual plots is fundamental", said the Scottish-born Italian who came to Ávila 20-odd years ago to make natural wines.
Get it right and Albillo Real is capable of crisp acidity. Get it wrong and it's all too often flabby and uninteresting, which brings us to this particular wine, Pies Descalzos, by Bodegas Marañones. The name is a nod to the previous owner of the 0.7 hectare plot, who used to work the vines in his bare feet.
I tasted the 2018 recently and was intrigued to see how a variety not known for ageing might have fared. The overall impression was very positive. The spine was still bright and linear. Perhaps the pink granite soil the 50-year-old vines call home is ideal for preserving that freshness? Albillo Real tends to give off stone fruit aromas and, quite often, the heady scent of almonds that always reminds me of a stroll through Toledo and its marzipan stores. Not the case here. This was floral, mineral and edgy. A central European-style white nestling in the centre of Spain or somewhat redolent of a typical godello. Whatever. It's perhaps the finest Albillo Real I've tasted. And, despite it being royalty, you don't have to pay a king's ransom to taste it. More recent vintages retail for around €25.
But here's the rub. Bodegas Marañones was bought out by Ribera del Duero operation Pago de Carraovejas around three years ago and the future of this and several other wines in the portfolio seems uncertain. Not even the doyen of Spanish critics, Luis Gutiérrez, could cast much light on current proceedings when I spoke to him a fortnight ago. "I'll do some digging when I visit Gredos next month", he assured me. Let's hope that normal service will be resumed and that one of Spain's finest white wines can continue to hold court.