Albariño, the premier league white grape of Spain, was probably the first wine to entice drinkers towards the country’s excellent whites; it has also experienced a staggering boom in the last ten years.

I think its appeal is in its tantalising freshness and juicy fruit flavour, and these are usually at their best as a youthful wine drunk within two years of vintage.

But to what extent is it a truly great grape on the world wine stage? A grape’s ‘nobleness’ is often judged by a wine’s ability to age, or its affinity to different winemaking techniques. In this regard, chardonnay is perhaps the ultimate example.

Recently I was invited to taste through a range of albariños going back to 1996 to see for myself.

The wines came from Galicia’s top producer, Pazo de Señorans, and my six fellow tasters included Tim Atkin MW, Steven Spurrier and Julia Harding MW.

It was a fascinating experience, altering my perception of albariño. The vintages that shone for me were the Señorans 2010 and 2009. This is the unoaked, early-bottled cuvée (that The Society sells), which even with just an extra year in bottle becomes more interesting and textured.

The revelation though was the string of Sol de Señorans (100% albariño fermented in tank and aged in barrique for 6 months): 2004, 2002, 1997 and 1996 were outstanding, all still lively but broad, opulent and complex in flavour. Quite Burgundian in fact, confirmation indeed that albariño is a premier league white grape and certainly Spain’s most exciting.

Pierre Mansour
Spain Buyer

Pazo de Señorans 2010 is featured in The Society’s current ‘Best of Spain’ offer.