2023 La Marea by Ian Brand, Albariño “Alternative Cut” Kristy Vineyard, Monterey County.
The 2023 La Marea “Alternative Cut” Albariño, by Ian Brand, is juicy and steely fresh, highlighting the long ultra cool growing season, with pithy lime, green apple, peach and verbena leading the way on the zingy medium bodied palate along with hints of mango, quince, Sweetart and wet stones. This crisp and dry Albariño saw a bit of skin maceration or soaking, which adds a touch of phenolic grip and brings out a lot more personality, making for a unique California expression of this Galician varietal, which loves being close to the ocean, especially in the Rias Baixas region of Spain. Also found in Portugal’s Vinho Verde, Albariño has found a happy home here in the cooler zones of the state after first arriving here, originally in Carneros, in the late nineties when Michael Heavens brought cuttings back from Rias Baixas. In the mid 2000s Albariño came to Monterey County and it has thrived, with some fabulous example now being done here, including Ian Brand’s La Marea versions, as well as those done by Chesebro and Joyce. Brand, known for discovering almost forgotten sites, old vines and varietal rarities, has become one of his generations leading lights and voices, especially on the central coast and on granite, alluvial and ancient seabed based vineyards. Brand does three different labels, the Payson, which is value packed, which includes the awesome Rosé, the La Marea, Iberian inspired wines, where this wine is, and his signature I. Brand label, where you find the most limited and hand crafted efforts, like the 100 year old Grenache from the Besson Vineyard.
One of Monterey’s most satisfying, mineral driven and pure wines, the special edition of Ian Brand’s Albariño from the stony Kristy Vineyard, now called the “Alternitive Cut” sees a little skin contact and was originally done with a special batch of grapes that was vineyard yeast fermented or Pied de Cuve and was whole cluster pressed, giving more distinction and intensity of flavors. This vintage Alt Cut version is wonderfully stylish and, like I’ve mentioned before, is far more true in character with the Spanish Rias Baixas wines that inspired it. Like those wines from Spain, the La Marea Albariño, that is neutral barrel aged, goes well with fresh local sea food, in particular shellfish and briny stuff. As mentioned in prior reviews, Ian Brand has fallen in love with white varietals and sees Monterey County and the central Coast as prime terroir to really create some magical stuff. Most recently with a release of Arinto, a Portuguese varietal, along with his Melon de Bourgogne, Chenin Blanc, Arneis, the skin contact “Ramato” Pinot Gris, an orange wine called Super Toothy with Sauvignon Gris and the two versions of Albariño, including this one, rally expressing that potential, not to mention his outstanding Sauvignon Blanc and unique Chardonnay offerings, one of which is in the nutty almost Sherry like Jura style. In the future, Brand potentially looks to add some more Italian varietals and even some Assyrtiko, the Greek white grape, most commonly found on the island of Santorini, which Ian saw close up on a visit to the Greece last year. Of course, Ian loves his reds too and in the current collection there’s some absolute stunners, including his old vine Grenache, the Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc bottlings, especially the Bates Ranch editions, so I highly recommend getting on the mailing list here.
($32 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive