2021 Zarate El Palomar Single Vineyard Albariño, Galicia

The 2021 El Palomar always has a more classical malolactic sensation with a faint lactic feeling to it. It has notes of yellow fruit, and it's quite expressive, with very tasty flavors and a spicy twist. It spent a long time with lees in oak, without racking or added sulfur, which also gives it a certain creaminess. I like this very much; it really shows the cold year. 2,200 bottles and 150 magnums were produced. It was bottled in July 2022.

Since 2003, ‘el Palomar’ has been made as a single vineyard wine. Adjacent to the Zarate winery, El Palomar was planted in 1740. It’s just half a hectare of 100-200 yearold ungrafted Albariño vines on shallow granite soil over hard granitic bedrock. The roots drill right down into the rock looking for nutrients, and struggle to yield 44 hectolitres to the hectare. De-stemmed, the hand selected berries are slowly, gently pressed then fermented in a single 10-year-old 22 hectolitre round Seguin Moreau Vosges oak vat. It’s 6 months on gross lees, unracked and unsulphured, then racked and put back into vat on fine lees for a further 3 months, and malolactic fermentation takes place in vat. There is no battonage.