Albariño Mar de Frades 2023

Much more than a great white wine, Mar de Frades is an amazing example of the expressiveness contained in Albariño grapes. A unique wine with hints of the sea and a seductive elegant freshness and spectacular character in an unmistakable blue bottle. Vines grow on hillsides facing the Ría de Arousa estuary in the heart of the Salnés valley. Only the very best grapes, perfectly ripe and healthy, are chosen and taken in small crates to the winery for processing where a careful selection process removes about another 13% of the grapes which are not considered good enough to produce Mar de Frades. The fruit is then macerated with its skins for 40 hours in a carbon dioxide rich environment to avoid any chance of oxidation or spreading of bacteria. The result is a clean and extremely floral wine must which is then fermented with its own yeasts to bring out the Atlantic and varietal aromas. Finally, the wine is left to stand on its lees for 5 months to create a rounded and wide final product. The Mar de Frades bottle features a heat-sensitive label which reveals an illustration of a small boat when the wine is cooled to its ideal serving temperature. On pouring it displays a crystal-clear lemon yellow colour with glints of green apple, a radiant aspect which invites us to lift a glass and admire the floral notes of jasmine and violets blended in with fennel, mango and apricots and intense saline notes. Daring and forceful on the palate, Mar de Frades is a white wine brimming with ripe fruit and persistent sensations of freshness which eventually lead to a sophisticated finish with a wonderful Atlantic character. Try it and you are sure to understand why this popular wine has deservedly won a place among the best white wines in Spain.