Description
Bodegas Fulcro, “A Pedreira” Rías Baixas Albariño
Clinging to the Atlantic Ocean in Spain’s remote northwestern corner, Val do Salnés is where Albariño’s most illustrious and authentic interpreters have resided for generations—but the 21st century has been their Golden Age. This verdant paradise is enjoying an explosive revolution, one being fervently led by sommeliers because with each new vintage, the wines from this singular terroir get more ambitious, more distinguished…more everything. The latest bulletproof evidence is today’s mineral masterpiece from Bodegas Fulcro, an emergent artisan bound to generate bedlam once the world tastes more of their small-production gems.
Although grown within eyeshot of the Atlantic, this is not some simple, salty, seaside quaffer but a granite-built wine surging with nervy power, searing minerality, and gorgeous swells of citrus. There’s no doubt that it’s Albariño, or from a coastal terroir, but there’s just far more profundity and spirit than we typically ascribe to such wines. That’s Val do Salnés for you, and this is a single-vineyard stunner from an impassioned vigneron who works by hand, avoids chemicals, and naturally raises his wines in old barrels. For me, premium Albariños already rank among the world’s great white wines, but for others, Fulcro’s electrifying 2020 will serve as an epiphany. Yes, it’s that good, and yes, that’s what you’ve been missing out on all along! This just arrived directly from the bodega; up to 12 bottles per person.
In both scale and spirit, Bodegas Fulcro is a true “garage” winery, founded in 2009 by Manuel Moldes Morana (locally known as “Chicho”) who had made wine as a hobby before entering the commercial realm. His winery is in Pontevedra and his vineyards practically border the coast in the municipalities of Sanxenxo and Meaño. This is the cool, saturated heart of the Rías Baixas, a tangle of streams winding their way into the ocean through soils of decomposed granite and coarse sand. “Pedreira” is the name of one of Chicho’s most prized single vineyards, where vines range between 35-45 years of age and the soils are rich in granite. Moldes works his parcels by hand, and has eschewed chemical preparations since day one.
“A Pedreiras” is Bodegas Fulcro’s flagship wine, crafted from 100% Albariño fermented on native yeasts in equal parts stainless steel and neutral 500-liter oak barrels. The wine does not undergo malolactic fermentation (a secondary fermentation converting sharper malic acid to softer lactic acid), but does spend about six months aging on its lees; the result is a wine that displays some creaminess on the palate while maintaining lots of racy acidity and the telltale salinity so typical of Rías Baixas whites.
If you’re looking for a salty-citrusy quaffer, Fulcro’s 2020 is not it—this delivers far more depth and intrigue. The magic of great Val do Salnés Albariño is the way it packs lots of white peach fruit, creamy mid-palate texture, salty sea spray, and abundant freshness into one bottle. In the glass, it’s a bright straw-yellow with flashes of neon green as you swirl. Given 15-30 minutes in a decanter, the reticence blows off and a swirling core of high-toned aromatics blast out: salt-preserved lemon, green apples, underripe peach, melon peel, wet rock, crushed shells, lees, and fresh white flowers. Medium-bodied, deliciously snappy, and lightly creamy with a hint of tannin, this is Albariño perfection, a resolutely classic wine that sommeliers should be able to successfully blind 9/10 times. It is focused and nervy and will certainly age nicely over the next 2-3 years, but then again, why wait? Just serve it around 45 degrees in all-purpose stems and enjoy frequently.
