2018 Pazo de Barrantes La Comtesse

The Pazo de Barrantes La Comtesse is a good example of the potential of the Albariño grape and is a good example of how beautifully an Albariño can age. De La Comtesse is the big brother of the very beautiful Pazo de Barrantes Albariño and is without a doubt one of the very best Albariños. The La Comtesse has concentration, elegance and balance and the cool year of 2017 gives the wine a beautiful acidity that provides freshness and length. Supply is very limited, the grapes come from a small plot, the 1.4 hectare Pago Cacheiro, from the oldest (50 years) and lowest yielding vines on the Pazo de Barrantes estate

The La Comtesse from Pazo de Barrantes has been on the market since 2009. The owner of this house is the well-known Marques de Murrieta - and the owners have their roots in Galicia, hence the desire to make a top wine and show the potential of the Albarino grape with a long aging on lees and in large oak barrels. barrels. Every year they choose to age the wine for even longer.

All grapes come from Pago Cacheiro, a single vineyard of 1.4 hectares planted in 1965, in the heart of the Pazo Barrantes estate, a 12 hectare estate in the Salnés Valley, the heart of Rías Baixas. The soil is sandy over granite rocks. The harvest took place in 18 kg crates on September 22, 2018. After an extensive selection, the grapes are destemmed and pressed carefully and slowly in a pneumatic press. The must is decanted by flotation to ensure greater aromatic purity and then fermented at 10oC in 3,000 liter French oak barrels for approximately 60 days. The wine then spends 12 months in 3,000 l French oak barrels, of which 2 months in contact with the lees and 12 months in concrete tanks. After bottling, the wine also undergoes a long bottle aging. Only around 6,500 bottles of this now iconic Albariño were made. This wine is only made in the top years and unanimously receives a very high rating from the international wine press

99 Guía Proensa points
97 Guía Gourmets points
96 Guía Peñín points
96 Tim Atkin points
95 James Suckling points

In the glass, the Marqués de Murrieta La Comtesse de Pazo Barrantes has a beautiful bright light straw yellow color. In the nose we smell beautiful aromas of apple, peach, lime and of course the pear known for the albariño, but we also notice notes of oyster shells and lime. The latter becomes even clearer in the mouth. The wine is full bodied, somewhat creamy, minerally with a good salty sea injection and a long tasty aftertaste. This savory wine is also a gastronomic highlight and accompanies fresh oysters, but is also great with richer fish dishes such as cod with rosemary and honey, roasted chicken and vegetables or a warm shrimp salad with honey mustard and green apples.

FACT: In the Tab: Appendix you will find the official fact sheet of this beautiful wine. We will send it to you automatically when you order this wine. The wine is in our conditioned Wine Warehouse and if you pick up the wine you will also receive a nice discount.

Pazo de Barrantes winery

Marqués de Murrieta's also has an estate in the Rias Baixas (Galicia) called Pazo de Barrantes. The Albariño vineyard covers 12 hectares and is located in the Valle del Salnés. This vineyard provides a lot of aromatic complexity to the wine, thanks to the natural influences on the landscape. Read more under the heading winery