Wine of the Week

WINERY: VEIGA SERANTES 

WINE: MADURO 2015

GRAPE: ALBARIÑO 100%

APPELLATION: DO RIAS BAIXAS 

SUB-ZONE: VAL DO SALNÉS

PRICE: €17-20 

In a recent visit to Veiga Serantes, Honorio Noya and Rafa Serantes invited us to taste their three Albariños: Veiga Serantes, Veiga Serantes Selección and Veiga Serantes Maduro 2015. While the first two are excellent examples of Val do Salnés Albariño, it was this last one that caught my eye, both in the name and the concept. Honorio and Rafa say they aim their wines at mature consumers, ‘the sort of person that knows what they’re looking for in a wine and most importantly,  care about provenance’. 

In the second week of September 2015 grapes with an alcoholic potential of 12.4% and good acidity were fermented in a stainless steel temperature controlled vat. Once alcoholic fermentation was over, spontaneous malolactic fermentation to 70% took place. After halting the malolactic, the wine was racked and left to its own devices, undisturbed year after year. ‘No intervention at all?’, I asked them somewhat incredulously. ‘Nope, we just left it there to brood, only checking in to taste it from time to observe the balance and roundedness we were looking for,’ replied Honorio. The decision to bottle was finally taken in September 2022 with the wine being released just a few months ago. 

The first thing that grabs you is the bright golden colour while the nose is simply glorious, with citrus, ripe nectarine, white flowers and almonds. In spite of having brooded in the dark for eight years you wouldn’t say it was corpulent in any way. The acidity of the variety is still there and the finish is elegant and long. A total señor of an Albariño like this, to my mind, calls for an equally MATURE whole turbot, a la brasa or baked, followed by a siesta complete with dressing gown, slippers and Victorian chamber pot. 

As with so many small scale quality producers in Galicia, I’m of the opinion that they undersell their wine. Selling the ultra complex Maduro for only 17€ is madness and I told them so. Additionally, many consider 2015 to be an historic vintage in the Val do Salnés, so grab a bottle or two of Veiga Serantes Maduro 2015 while you can.

Wine tourism: Veiga Serantes also offer splendid on site accommodation bookable here.

Contact for wine sales: bodega@veigaserantes.com 

Telephone: +34 986 71 00 92