Zárate Albariño ‘El Palomar’ 2021

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

Luis Gutiérrez on the 2022 & 2021 Vintages

2022 was a very warm year, and it didn’t rain in July or August, something quite unusual; it rained in early September, which saved the harvest, as the plants were nearly blocked. The wines have a little more alcohol and are more immediate and round. 2021 was almost the opposite, like going back to the vintages from the 1990s, cold, difficulties reaching ripeness, high acidity with quite a lot of malic acid (they have always tried to do full malolactic in their wines, which for them was the tradition); in 2021, they did malolactic in all wines (not the case in 2022), so it’s a classical year with wines that have aging potential. 

About Zárate

The Zárate tradition begins in 1707 with Diego Zárate y Murga, First Marquis of Montesacro by Decree of Philip V. Today the family continues to run the family vineyards, many of them centuries old, with which they make wines faithful to the land and a living expression of Galicia.

Since the mid-20th century, Zárate has been a pioneer in the production of Albariño wine as it is known today. Ernesto Zárate was the founder of the Cambados Albariño Festival, a contest that he would win in its first three years consecutively.

Today, the winery is run by 7th generation, Eulogio Pomares, who started in 1999. Like many top winemakers, he is not only uber-fastidious in the vineyards and cellar, but he is also one who is a lover of the great wines of the world and makes it a point to visit top domaines not only in Spain and nearby Portugal, but also other regions like Burgundy, Barolo and Champagne (the latter, a huge personal favorite of his). This curiosity and world view of wines he feels helps to sharpen his techniques and perspectives for his own wines.

In the Vineyard

The Zárate estate encompasses a total of 9.6 Ha of vines, over 12 different parcels in the parishes of Sisán and Padrenda. These two parishes in the Salnés Valley are renowned for their poor and sunny lands and are considered the cradle of Albariño. They are prized for their cool climate and close proximity to the sea, which Pomares feels gives the wines a salty character.

The soils here are what is called Xabre, or weathered granite, which also helps to accentuate the intense minerality of the wines. The vines are farmed organically with many biodynamic techniques employed as well. Pomares also uses a rotation of cover crops as well as his own remedy of homeopathic “teas” to support the balance and health of the vineyards. In fact, one of his remedies includes using seaweed to help balance the phosphorus and potassium levels in the soils.

In most years, he averages around 4 tons per hectare which of course is far less than the 12 tons/Ha that is permitted in the DO. All the vineyard work, including harvest, is done by hand.

Selection Massalle from the oldest ungrafted vines is employed for new plantings.

In the Winery

Zárate Albariño

The harvest is manual and grape selection is carried out on the plot. The grapes are destemmed and subjected to gentle pressing, obtaining a low must yield. After light racking, it ferments spontaneously in a steel tank and remains on fine lees for 3 months.

Zárate Albariño ‘Balado’

This wine is from two parcels of ungrafted vines, planted in the 1950’s in a Clos (or Balo in the local dialect). Here, there is only about 40-60 cm of topsoil over a bedrock of solid granite.

The harvest is manual and grape selection is carried out on the plot. The grapes are destemmed and subjected to a long, gentle pressing, obtaining a low must yield. It ferments spontaneously in a steel tank and remains on thick lees for 3 months. It is then racked and remains cold on the fine lees for 6 months. No batonnage or malolactic fermentation is carried out. The work with the thick lees gives the wine a breadth in the mouth, it is a very fatty and broad wine. Working with the fine lees allows the wine to have greater complexity on the nose, and expresses the aromas much more intensely.

Our best wine in steel, and without a doubt an example of the best wines from Salnés. A white wine for aging that, due to its high acidity, will evolve favorably in the next 5-10 years.

Zárate Albariño ‘El Palomar’

El Palomar is a 0.36 ha plot of centenary vines of the Albariño variety. This pre-phyloxera vineyard was planted in the 1850s and is one of the oldest surviving vineyards in the world. Like Balado, there is very little topsoil over a mother rock of hard granite.

It is the oldest estate in our vineyards and one of the oldest documented in the Rías Baixas. The soil is granite and shallow. The roots, to ensure their nutrition, penetrate deep into the rock, which gives the wine a particular mineral character. It is a loam plot, the average yield is very low, 38 hl/ha.

The harvest is manual and grape selection is carried out on the plot. The grapes are destemmed and subjected to a long, gentle pressing, obtaining a low must yield. The must ferments in a 2,200-liter foudre made of 15-year-old French oak from the Vosges. With foudre fermentation, low oak extraction is achieved but oxidative aging is achieved that allows the wine to remain in contact with its lees without racking until after malolactic fermentation, which develops spontaneously. After the first racking, the wine remains in contact with its fine lees for three more months until bottling.

Due to the selection of grapes and the special preparation, this wine can be considered an “aging” white and will evolve favorably in the bottle in the next 5-10 years.

Where in the World is Zárate?

Zárate is in the Val do Salnés sub-zone of Rías Baixas known as the birthplace of the Albariño grape. Located on the Atlantic coast in the north west corner of spain, it surrounds the historic town of Cambados. This is the original and oldest sub-region with the most area under vine and the highest concentration of wineries.