Gran Vino de Guarda La Comtesse 2018

Very intense and slightly tropical nose with lemon rind, mango, jack fruit and fine lees. A creamy Rias Baixas with vivid pineapple and lemon flavors on the palate, cut through by a tangy streak of fresh acidity. A ripe yet very zesty and serious rendition here. Drink upon release or hold.

Smoky oak, quince and citrus make an appealing combination on the nose. Youthful palate despite its years, showing lemon curd, patisserie and rich fruit conserve. Finishes long, with structure that will allow further ageing.

The 2018 La Comtesse comes from a vineyard called Cacheiro, 1.4 hectares of their oldest vines (planted in 1965) that deliver lower yields and aim to showcase the aging potential of Albariño. The destemmed grapes were slowly and softly pressed in a pneumatic press, and the juice was let to settle and put to ferment in a 3,000-liter oak vat for some 60 days. The wine was kept in that vat for 12 months, the first two with lees, and then it matured in concrete for a further 12 months before bottling. It has 13.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.4 with seven grams of tartaric acid per liter, very good parameters for a great vintage. It has a bright golden color and a perfumed, complex and elegant nose, with depth and nuance with the complexity of time, moving away from the primary aromas and high acidity of the younger wines. The oak is neatly integrated (the oak is used, and they have reduced the time in oak by two months), and the wine has mellow acidity. It's velvety and elegant, clean, pungent and precise, sharp and electric, very fresh. It has complexity and youth, balance and ingredients to develop in bottle. Time is on its side. 6,672 bottles and 200 magnums were produced. It was bottled in April 2021. It was not released until June 2023, after a good couple of years in bottle. Prices have increased.

La Comtesse comes from the Pago Cacheiro, a 1.4-hectare parcel planted in 1965, and sees a combination of new and older French wood, followed by a year in concrete eggs. Deliberately made to age, like owner Marqués de Murrieta's white Riojas, this is rich, leesy and textured, with notes of butter and honey, pear and peach skin fruit, a dab of oak spices and a taut, focused, mineral rich core. Rías Baixas meets Meursault. 2023-30