Rodrigo Méndez Sálvora 2024

Rodrigo Méndez works in the Salnés sub-region of Rías Baixas, the coolest and most maritime corner of Galician Albariño country. Sálvora comes from a pre-phylloxera vineyard in the village of Meaño, planted on degraded granite soils that drain freely and give the wine a firm mineral core. The Salnés lies close to the Atlantic, with high rainfall, cool nights and a long, gentle ripening season that preserves the grape's sharp natural acidity. The wine ferments in large oak vats and then ages twelve months in used oak barrels. The choice of old, neutral wood is deliberate: it adds a fine lees texture and a breath of oxygen without laying down oak flavour, so the vineyard rather than the barrel shapes the wine. That gives a white that is direct and austere in its youth and grows more expansive with age. Expect a nose of lemon, sea salt and white flowers with a delicate spice, and a taut, saline palate of citrus, green apple and pear with a long, dry finish. Serve chilled at 9 to 11 degrees in a white wine glass.