2024 Rodrigo Méndez, Albariño “Sálvora” Rias Baixas DO, Galicia, Spain.
After having a Rodrigo Méndez Albariño recently, I was really really excited to try this very unique and special version, and it was a thrilling experience with this Sálvora showing a distinctive medium bodied palate of saline rich mineral intensity with lime, kiwi, green apple and white peach fruit, wet stone, a touch of hazelnut brioche, wild herbs and briny sea shore notes. The Sálvora is crafted from grapes grown in a single vineyard planted in 1905 in winemaker Rodrigo Méndez’s grandmother’s backyard, it was the source, in fact, of the first wine he ever tasted. These old vines are set on mostly granite with sand and some dark organic matter. Nice and close to the cool Atlantic, within the top Val do Salnes sub zone of DO Rías Baixas in Spain’s ancient Galicia region, which is the spiritual home of Albariňo. The Sálvora sees a natural fermentation, in a combination of vessels, usually with half in oak, aged for 12 months, and half aged in cool stainless steel tanks. The portion aged in oak gets its élevage in well used large 2,000 liter barrels and does not undergo malolactic fermentation, to preserve its bright freshness of detail, while still having some textual presence in the glass. I have become a huge fan of these Méndez wines now, with these beautiful delicately aromatic Albariño offerings being wines that I am keeping my eye out for.
Rodrigo Méndez in 2012, according to his importer Olé Obrigado, and as noted here in my previous review, decided to establish his own personal project located in Meaño under his own name with the goal being to produce wines that authentically express the terroir of Galicia’s Rías Baixas region while adhering to biodynamic farming principles, which only a few others were doing at the time. This Albariño bottling, named after Sálvora, a small island on the remote cool and breezy Atlantic coast of Galicia, comes from a single vineyard in the town of Meaño, and is a small limited wine, which Méndez says, that embodies a pure traditional expression of Albariño from the Val do Salnés sub zone, which captures in my opinion the soulful sea shore essence of the place. The Albariños here, as noted above and in prior reviews are fermented with indigenous yeasts, then partially aged in old wooden vessels without temperature control, which he explains is a technique once more common in the region before the introduction of stainless steel in the 1980s. By reviving this method, Rodrigo Méndez is producing distinctive, age-worthy all biodynamically grown Albariños, especially in the case of this gorgeous Sálvora version! I must say, this wine was stunning in its purity, electric character and clarity of terroir, but it really added depth and complexity with food, so be sure to allow it to shine by having it with the right pairing!
($70 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive