López Cristóbal Albillo 2024

López Cristóbal is based in Roa de Duero, in the heart of D.O. Ribera del Duero, better known for its Tempranillo reds. Santiago López, an agricultural engineer who has farmed here since childhood, has grown his own fruit and made the wines since 1994. This is Albillo Mayor, the region's traditional white grape, which ripens fully in the continental climate of the high Duero plateau, where hot summer days and cold nights create a wide diurnal range that builds sugar and flavour while holding acidity. At 14.5 per cent the wine is generous in body. It spends three months in oak barrels, a short élevage that rounds the texture and adds a light creamy, vanilla lift without covering the fruit. The wine is bright straw yellow. The nose shows white peach, pear and melon with a squeeze of lemon and a dough-like note from the time in barrel. The palate is broad and ripe but kept in line by fresh acidity, closing on a gently creamy finish. Serve at 10 to 12 degrees in a standard white glass. It is a good match for roast chicken, pork loin and richer white fish.