La Suerte de Arrayán Albillo Real 2024

This Albillo Real is from the Méntrida region outside of Madrid, and made by the incredibly talented Maite Sánchez. Maite’s previous experience, making wine at the likes of Vega Sicilia, Clos Mogador and Comte Armand taught her the importance of respecting local grape varieties and making wines in a traditional, artisanal way. That’s exactly what she does here - Albillo Real is a very rare grape that grows really well in the harsh and remote mountains around Madrid. The 70 year-old vineyard is near Toledo and is based on granite-sandy soils. Fermentation starts gently and spontaneously to preserve all that vineyard character and build complexity, and the wine is aged for 9 months in old French oak barrels. You get a bright and mineral nose with hints of pear and honey, and the palate is beautifully textured and balanced, with a very long finish. But don’t just take my word for it - Decanter magazine gave this 95 points in a recent review of indigenous Spanish whites, and ranked it in second place out of 87 wines tasted!