Pazo Senorans, Rias Baixas, Albarino Seleccion Anada 2013 - 75cl
Pazo de Señoráns held this wine back for the best part of a decade before letting it go — the 2013 spent around 36 months resting on its fine lees, then years more settling in tank before bottling. That patience is the whole point of Selección de Añada, the estate's flagship, and it turns Albariño into something most people would never recognise as Albariño.
Forget the young, zippy sea-breeze style. This is Rías Baixas grown up. In Galicia's damp green north-west, on granite soils near the Atlantic, Marisol Bueno's estate picks only in the years worth cellaring and gives the wine time few producers dare to. The result earned 100 Peñín points, the first white in the guide's history to manage it.
The nose is layered and slow to reveal itself — dried herbs, quince, waxy lemon and honeysuckle, then a smoky, nutty depth from all that lees contact, with crushed granite underneath. The palate is the surprise: for a wine of this age the acidity is electric, cutting clean through the honeyed weight. White peach, yellow grapefruit and a saline tang carry a finish that keeps going. Give it an hour in the glass and it shifts again.
Drink this when you want to change someone's mind about a grape. It suits a quiet, serious table more than a party.
How to Serve
Serve cool but not icy, around 11 to 12 degrees. Reach for a Burgundy-style glass with a generous bowl — this needs air. Decanting is not essential, but a slow pour half an hour ahead pays off.
Where to Drink It
Scott's, for turbot and a wine that can stand up to the room. Brat, where the wood-fire cooking meets its saline edge. J Sheekey, for a proper seafood occasion.
Food Pairings
Grilled langoustines are my first thought, the char playing off the smoky lees. Failing that, a whole roast chicken with lemon and thyme flatters its age beautifully.
