Adegas Albamar
Aldea de Adro, 11, 36634 , Cambados, Pontevedra, Spain | instagram.com/albamarbodegas
Xurxo Alba quickly established himself as a rising star in Rías Baixas, working out of his family’s furancho-turned-winery Bodegas Almabar. Today, it’s safe to say that he stands among the region’s great growers and winemakers. From the home base in Rías Baixas, he’s gone on to create projects in Ribeira Sacra and Valdeorras.
After losing his job as a bricklayer, Xurxo’s father Luis planted Albariño vines near the family home in Cambados. He chose to make wine to sell in bulk in a furancho—a Galician tavern that sells unlabeled wine. Xurxo decided to take the reins of the family project in 2006, after studying viticulture and working in winemaking. He named the family business Albamar, combining the family name with the word for sea or mar.
Xurxo farms 10 hectares of estate vines and sources grapes from another 13 hectares of small plots farmed by 48 growers.He’s a master of his craft—his Albariños are effusive, electric wines, brimming with Atlantic energy and Salnés terruño. His reds are also coming into their own, and the nervy, vegetal spicy red fruits typical of Rías Baixas reds takes on certain elegance.
Working from a philosophy of “maximum respect,” the wines slip in and out of the natural continuum. Strict natural wine dogmatists would fault him for his use of sulfur treatments in the vines; others would say it’s an inevitable fact of life in rainy, mildew-prone Rías Baixas.
Albamar (45,000 bottles) The flagship 100% Albariño hand-harvested from many small parcels in and around Castrelo in the Salnés Valley. Spontaneously fermented and raised on the lees 6 months in tank with a small percentage in neutral oak foudre.
O Sebal (2,600 bottles) 100% Albariño from one organically-farmed plot and other conventionally-farmed vineyards. Although the vineyards are registered in DO Rías Baixas this wine is produced outside the DO. The organic plot is vinified separately. Each tank ferments with indigenous yeasts and is raised on its lees until blending on the day of bottling. No SO2 and unfiltered.
Pepe Luís (3,000 bottles) 100% Albariño sourced from five 40+ year-old plots farmed by a grower who lives next to the sea. Fermented spontaneously in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts and raised in two 2,500L German and Austrian oak foudres (time in foudre depends on the vintage) with no bâtonnage. This wine is a tribute to his brother, who died in a car accident at the age of 21.
Sesenta e Nove Arrobas (3,300 bottles) 100% Albariño made from five old plots, three of which are over 100 years old. Spontaneously fermented in tank with indigenous yeasts and raised there for 22 months on the fine lees before bottling unfined and unfiltered with minimal SO2. An arroba is an old liquid volume measure which in Galicia equaled 14.5 liters, so 69 arrobas equates to 1,000 liters, or the production when Xurxo began making the wine in 2014.
Finca O Pereiro (4,500 bottles) 100% Albariño from the “Finca O Pereiro” plot, planted in 2004 on clay and sand at the water’s edge. After spontaneous fermentation it ages about eight months in foudre with its lees before bottling.
O Esteiro (5,000 bottles) Whole clusters of mencía, caíño and espadeiro grapes that are foot trodden when they arrive at the winery, then foot trodden twice a day until alcoholic fermentation is almost finished. Grapes are pressed and transferred to used barrels for a year, separated by variety. Since 2015, Xurxo has been making three single-variety reds of mencía, caíño, and espadeiro, with an individual production of around 700 bottles. The wines settle in stainless steel for about six months before bottling unfined and unfiltered.
Albamar Tinto ( 6,600 bottles) Made from a mix of indigenous red grapes like caíño, espadeiro and mencía which are foot trodden during crush as well as twice a day during alcoholic fermentation. The wine is then pressed and left to rest in used wooden vats until bottling.