Pale straw color; melon, fresh-mown hay, banana, nectarine on the nose; banana, mandarine orange, pineapple, nectarine on the palate.
Full and round in the mouth with tannins, acidity, minerality nicely balanced and structured. 100% albariño; cold soaked six hours to emphasis fruit, fermented at low temperature in stainless steel to enhance fruit, focus. Lots of tropical fruit in this effort. Do not decant. Drink young; winery is clear about this—“We do not recommend aging.”
The wine comes from Rias Baixas, Spain’s leading white wine producing region and the only Spanish DO for white wine. Rias Baixas is known for whites in similar way Rioja is for Spanish reds. Rias Baixas is located in northwestern Spain, above the border with Portugal. Across the border, literally on the opposite bank of the Minho River, the grape in this varietal is called “alvarinho” and is the principal grape used in vinho verde wines, although Portuguese also use the grape to make whites similar to this Spanish effort. Albariño/alvarinho is a small, thick-skinned grape that resists fungal disease—important in Rias Baixas because the region receives so much rain (40 to 100 inches a year). The grape is low yielding and expensive to cultivate.
The Terras Gauda Group is made up of three wineries—Bodegas Terras Gauda (white wines), Viñedos y Bodegas Pittacum (red wines), and Quinta Sardonia (also red wines), plus a vegetable cannery. They started in the early 1990s with a production of 37,000 bottles; today they make more than 1.5 million bottles and farm almost 400 acres of grapes.
Bodegas Terras Gauda Abadía de San Campio Albariño 2016 is another delicious albariño, a white that you must try if you enjoy sauv blanc or unoaked chardonnay or similar food friendly, nice acidity wines. Albariño grows near the Atlantic and whether in Spain or Portugal, it has a hint of saltiness and minerality that make it sensation pairing with shellfish, crab, and spicy Asian cuisine. $17-20
