Albariño
Acquelarre Blanco 2022
Constantina Sotelo

Grape Variety: Albariño

Producer: Constantina Sotelo

Region: Rias Baixas, Galicia, Spain

Wild Scale: 3/5

Vegan friendly wine

Winemaking: Organic Albariño grapes were harvested by hand.  Fermentation with indigenous yeast. Bottled before this process was complete in order to trap fizz inside the bottle (Ancestral winemaking technique - Pet Nat). Aged in for 12 months on the lees. Bottled with no fining, filtration or added sulphur.

This Wine: Rich and round sparkling white wine. This drinks like a salty Champagne with plenty of lees characteristics (brioche, toast, biscuit) alongside ripe and rich fruit (citrus and green apple). Quite a serious wine despite the label. Great with food or as an aperitif. 

Notes on the Winemaker: Constantina Sotelo makes natural wine in the famous region of Rias Baixas, the home of Albariño. However, the wines she produces are very different to your typical bottles from here. She works outside the DO which requires wines to be filtered and sulphured and instead focusses on making honest and authentic expressions of Albariño and some local red varieties. In 2018, we visited her in the beautiful surroundings of this part of Spain to see the vineyards and taste the many wines she produces.