Bodegas Albamar - Fusco - Mencía, Ribeira Sacra, Spain (2020)

TASTING NOTES

Juicy, with berry and herb aromas and flavours, with a bright/luminous quality that is refreshing and slightly. salty. The wine has a light herbaceousness too, evoking similarities to Loire Cab Franc.  

​​The Mencia grapes used to make Fusco are grown on extremely steep slopes rich in decayed granite from old-vines in the Chantada sub-region. It is fermented and aged in stainless steel; bottled without filtration or fining, which is clear in the wine's opaqueness in the glass.⁠

Since 2006, Xurxo has been the face of Albamar, though it was his father Luis who planted most of their Albariño vines long ago, when Xurxo was still a child. For years Luis devoted his time to making simple, label-free wines in the family’s furancho —a restaurant run by his wife Isabel where locals can enjoy some of the region’s best homemade dishes. 

Xurxo is full of energy and ideas, refining the wines his father started into gorgeous Atlantic vintages, his passion taking him to the top rankings of Galician winemakers. His aim is to keep learning and making fresh wines with the Atlantic acidity that characterizes Cambados, a protected area rich in migrating birds.

Xurxo’s winemaking is innovative and experimental as he pursues organic and biodynamic farming in this challenging maritime climate. He ferments his wines exclusively with native yeasts, and adds little-to-no sulfur during production. This is an extremely Atlantic-influenced area, and Albamar wines show that influence beautifully.

Albamar is one of only a handful of wineries in the region using natural yeasts for their fermentation, which has a dramatic impact on both the aromatics and flavour of albariño, giving the wines much more depth, complexity and interest.