Yummy! Who doesn't love a great Albarino?

2008 Abacela Albarino Estate Grown 

Oh Albarino, how I love thee. Light but supple, dry but richly textured. It can wash across your palate or it can dance around like the lightest ballerina, leaving hints of flavor each time it touches down. For these reasons I can't get enough Albarino. I've had it with many foods from sushi to grilled chicken to fresh summer salads. Each time's been wonderful, adding, supplementing and enhancing the flavors of the dish.

I picked up this little gem at San Diego Wine Company the other day and paired it with some pre-made sushi rolls. After chilling it for about two hours, I felt it was ready to be tasted. Right away you taste wonderful floral and stone-fruit, paired with lime peel and ruby grapefruit. There could even be some nectarine and minerals present. One of the many things I like about good Albarino is that it can have weight but also be well integrated and light. I know that may seem like a contradiction but hear me out. One the nose, you get great intensity yet everything is balanced out, none of the scents were heavy handed. So to me that shows it's got some weight, some substance, without being something like a Chardonnay, where you smell heavier scents like butter, tropical notes and oak.

With that, I just wanted to taste the wine! I mean come on, that's the whole point right? Right away, great citrus blended with ripe stone fruits, like a pear that was dipped in white peach juice. I love this! It's got a life to it, a way of dancing across your palate (like I said in the first paragraph) and each time you get a new flavor. There are some really interesting minerals on the mid-palate, like a limey-limestone..or wait, how about this: take one of those dark, round, dark shale type stones you may find at the beach, douse it in lime juice, and lick it! That's it! How cool, I'm really enjoying this wine. I also found there's a creamy/oily sensation, it's positively luxurious! Great floral notes and a fleshy, weighted sensation across the back of your tongue help give the finish some depth and complexity.

I think it's easy for you, the reader, to tell that I thoroughly enjoy this wine. There are so many of the qualities I look for and desire in this wine, it's hard to find any faults. If anything, I'd like the finish to have been longer, with a better transition from the fleshy, creamy/oily to the tapering acidity. Beyond that I was hard pressed to detail anything I didn't like. That's because there was nothing else wrong with it. To me, the folks at Abacela did a superb job on this wine, all I can say is BRAVO! Solid A from me, this has to be one of the most certain scores I've ever given. For 15$, it's well worth buying a few bottles especially since summer is coming along soon.

Beau Carufel