Description

It was in 1953 that Ernesto Zárate initiated the Albariño Festival in Salnés’ capital of Cambados. Yet, he withdrew his wine from the festival’s competition three years later having won first prize each year, vowing not to re-enter until another grower had matched his accomplishment. To this day, no one has.

When Galicia’s Rías Baixas officially attained appellation status in 1988, there were only thirty wineries, and almost all the wine they produced was consumed locally.  In the years since then, Rías Baixas has exploded and is now home to six times as many producers. Its growth has been driven by the worldwide thirst for the bracingly fresh and aromatic white wines made from the region’s signature grape, Albariño.

I vividly remember trying a bottle of the 2015 Zarate Albariño at lunch one day in a small cafe along the coast in the village of Cambados.  I had read it was the model of consistency and high quality vintage-to-vintage.  It was absolutely spectacular with a sardine “lasagna” appetizer, and grilled octopus coins with piemonton and roasted potatoes. 

Today, it is seventh-generation Eulogio Pomares at the helm of this ancient bodega, and he is even more quality-driven than his predecessors. As he told Food & Wine’s Ray Isle, “the problem with Albariño is that the message has been ‘drink young, drink young, drink early, drink young’ for the last 20 years. But the best thing with Albariño is to make wines that last.”

The Zárate estate is an old one, founded in 1707, in the classic Val do Salnés zone. Formed by the lower reaches of the Umia River, its undulating slopes of Xabre—weathered granite—soil, and cool climate make Val do Salnés the region’s greatest terroir and home to its longest-lived wines.

The range begins with this fresh, balanced and very mineral driven Zárate Albariño, sourced from estate vineyards averaging over 35 years of age in the parishes of Sisán and Padrenda in Val do Salnes’ central core. With wild-yeast, stainless steel tank fermentations and aging on the lees 6 months, this wine offers a character and vibrancy almost unique to the region.  Depending upon the vintage, only 10-25% of the wine undergoes a secondary malolactic fermentation.  

Pomares’ farming is almost fully biodynamic—he works the soil manually, uses cover crops for genetic diversity and makes his own biodynamic teas for vine and soil treatments. All new plantings are massale selections (rooted cuttings) from the estate’s oldest vines.  Because of the vineyards close proximity to the ocean, and the overall cool and damp conditions, the Albariño vines are pergola trellised on 8 foot granite pilings to help with air circulation and to discourage mold and mildew problems. 

In the cellar, the Zárate Albariños are fermented with native yeasts and aged sur lie. Eulogio usually adds no sulfur during élévage, and at bottling he adds only a tiny amount as required for each wine’s stability. 

Also please listen to this latest podcast “Rias Baixas – Albariño with Attitude” (Part 2) by “Wine Blast with Susie and Peter” (both Masters of Wine) 

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