2021 Berry Bros. & Rudd Albariño by Bodegas Sucesores de Benito Santos, Rías Baixas, Spain
About this WINE
Sucesores de Benito Santos
Bodega Sucesores de Benito Santos is among the most successful Galician producers of the hugely modish Albariño grape.
Albariño is a relatively thick-skinned variety; in its best manifestations, such as this, the wine is rich, fullish of colour and gently spicy, with a generous and pleasing texture. The wine is ripe with notes of peach, green apple, white flowers and even tropical fruit gracefully entwined with a juxtaposition of firm acidity and silky weight to provide an unforgettable bittersweet experience.
Discover the story behind our Own Selection Albariño, made for us by Benito Santos. Read more
Rias Baixas
Nestled in the south-west corner of Galicia on the Atlantic coast bordering Portugal's Vinho Verde region, Rias Baixas has firmly established itself as the star region of modern Spanish white wines. Production is mostly small scale, labour-intensive and dominated by family-run bodegas, all of which contributes to the high-quality, idiosyncratic character of the wines.
Albariño (aka Alvarinho in Vinho Verde) is the dominant grape in the region, robust and thick-skinned enough to withstand the local cool, humid, maritime conditions. It yields intensely aromatic wines evocative of almonds, peaches and citrus-peel scents with elegant, grassy overtones. Albariño is ideally enjoyed in its youth and is particularly suited to seafood due to its crisp acidity and clean, pure fruit.
It is sometimes also blended with other Galician grapes - the perfumed Treixadura or the herbal-scented Loureira, for example - but it is as a single varietal wine that it really shines, unoaked and fermented in steel tanks to retain its streak of youthful fruit and vitality.
Albariño
Albariño is one of the most distinctive white wine grapes in Spain. Its heartlands are in Galacia, in Spain's rain- sodden north-west, and in Portugal`s Vinho Verde region, where it is known as Alvarinho and Cainho Branco. In the past, it was commonly mixed with other local grapes such as Loureiro, Godello, Caiño, Arinto or Treixadura to produce blended wines, but since the mid 1980s the grape's full potential has been realised and appreciated for single varietal bottlings.
Its thick skin enables it to withstand the damp climate of Galicia and the subsequent fruit is small, sweet and high in glycerol, producing wines high in alcohol and acidity.
High quality Albariño dominated wines are intensely aromatic and redolent of peaches, apricots and almonds on the palate. They have the ability to age gracefully and many growers are now experimenting with oak maturation. The finest Albariño wines come from the Rias Baixas DOC of Galicia. Albariño is also produced in California wine regions including the Santa Ynez Valley & Los Carneros AVAs.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
Buying options
Add to wishlist
Description
Albariño is a relatively thick-skinned white grape that thrives northwest of Spain and Portugal. It produces wines which, at their best (like this example), are rich and gently spicy, with ripe notes of peach, green apple and even tropical fruit. Crucially, these wines always have a wonderful acidity and slight saline note.
Sucesores de Benito Santos is less than a kilometre from the coast, bringing a freshness to the wines made here. This is a bright, refreshing and crisp wine, and as Antonio Porto, Winemaker at Benito Santos, says, “This is a wine to enjoy on any occasion”.
Cellar Plan members enjoy a 10% saving on this wine at checkout.
Tasting note
This beautiful wine has a fresh nose of salted lemon with a grassy tarragon lift. The palate is bright, vibrant and zesty, full of tart white peach with a smooth, fleshy texture. The flavour builds on the palate, its mineral salinity becoming more intense with every sip. A lemon-lime zest and wet-stone purity complete the mouth-watering finish.
Catriona Felstead MW, Senior Buyer, Berry Bros. & Rudd
wine at a glance
Delivery and quality guarantee