The best Albarino winemaker in the world IMO

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2021 Eulogio Pomares Albarino “Carralcoba”, Rias Baixas, Spain

Few wines taste so perfectly of the coast as Pomares Albarinos! 

Winemaker Eulogio Pomares is responsible for throwing me down the rabbit hole of Albarino.  When I first tasted his work at Zarate, I went from appreciative of Albarino to full-on fixation.   I even tried my hand at making Albarino in 2019 because of how much inspiration I drew from his work. 

There’s no better Albarino winemaker for my money - these wines, whether at Zarate (his grandfather’s property) or his eponymous winery (pictured here).  Pomares studied in Germany and one can taste this infuence in his wines: they have holographic clarity of fruit married to electric acidity.  They remind me of great riesling and that’s why I’m wearing my Wehlener Sonnenuhr hoodie.

He makes wine in the Val do Salnes, the historic salt flats harvested since Roman times.  He even uses seashells and seaweed to compost and provide nutrition to his soils.  The man is fully committed to the bit, expressing the taste of the West Coast and the wines show brilliantly. 

His Albarinos are incredibly typical of Rias Baixas, yet Pomares sees crazy untapped potential in the grape, trying different winemaking techniques, aging, and vessels - such as the chestnut barrels that Carralcoba vineyard fruit is matured within.  This 2021 is tasting fucking great, with still-fresh fruit with peach, tangerine and flowers and a bone-dry palate with a rich dry riesling profile with citrus oils and taut acidity.  Well worth buying a few bottles each year and discovering them still alive and glimmering!

Hopefully helpful info: Imported into the US by Polaner Selections, Rare Wine Co, into the uk by Indigo Wine and available at spanish retailers like Coalla and Vinissimus.