Wine of the week

Adrian McManus enjoys an Albariño from a young winemaker carrying on the family tradition in the heart of the Val do Salnés

Raxeira 2022 (Bodegas Casa Monte Pío)

D.O. Rías Baixas (Sub-zone: Val do Salnés)

100% Albariño

ABV: 12.6%

€15.00

Email: info@bodegascasamontepio.com. Tel: +34 618 30 50 06

Pablo Martínez worked briefly as an accountant before assuming the mantle of grower and winemaker at Bodegas Casa Monte Pío in Ribadumia, founded by his grandfather forty-five years ago.

I had been introduced some time ago to Ledes, a wonderfully complex lees-aged Albariño, and was most impressed, making a mental note to check out his other cuvées at some point. That opportunity finally presented itself at Trasmallo, a charming wine lovers’ delight in Pontevedra’s old town. Trasmallo means trammel net, one of the most common fishing techniques used in Galicia’s rías or bays.

Raxeira is 80% fermented in stainless steel vats, the remaining 20% in earthenware jars. It then spends four months in contact with its fine lees before bottling in early spring. The nose is a saline salvo of apple and lemon with a hint of pear. In the mouth it’s surprisingly weighty, but with that tongue-tingling sapidity I always look for in a Salnés valley Albariño.

We had Raxeira with pickled mussels served in a bubbling, pimentón-rich emulsion of escabeche, a sublime combination. Fabulous to see the torch being passed on to young guys like Pablo, from whom we’ll undoubtedly be hearing more in the coming years.