Gran Vino de Guarda La Comtesse 2018
Descripción
La Comtesse es el blanco más refinado de Pazo de Barrantes, elaborado a partir de las viñas más viejas de la propiedad, plantadas en 1965, localizadas en el Pago Cacheiro. Se trata de un homenaje a la condesa gallega viuda de Creixell, y desde su concepción en 2009 ha buscado mostrar la increíble personalidad de la Albariño y la autenticidad de este pequeño terruño de 1,4 hectáreas. Para potenciar estos elementos se ha incorporado a la fermentación y crianza en tinos de roble francés, un envejecimiento en depósito de hormigón que le confiere una mayor expresividad y longevidad, convirtiendo La Comtesse en un Gran Vino de Guarda.
Ficha técnica
Cata
Viñedo y elaboración
Opinión de los críticos
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.
Light greenish yellow with silver reflections. Highly attractive tropical fruit, delicate notes of cape gooseberry, fresh lychee and cloves, almost red berry-like touch, some sea buckthorn and fine blossom honey underneath. Juicy, white fruit on the palate, appears incredibly light-footed, literally dancing on the palate. Finesse-rich acidity with white pear and a hint of rose oil on the finish. Silky and highly elegant, the wine is harmonious, with a salty and lemony aftertaste. Simply delicate.
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
Añadas: 2018 2017 2016 2015
Seguramente el mejor Albariño que he probado, fino y elegante, con buena intensidad...con marisco se vuelve excelente
Un precio algo elevado para este ribera. Lo guardaba para una ocasión especial y no paso de normal-bueno.
3,75☆por no haberlo dejado redondearse un poco más de tiempo. Delicioso
Sutileza, proporción y equilibrio, todo al servicio de una plena elegancia. Aunque anda justo de fuerza le sobra clase, calidad y finura.