Verdad

Very few plantings of the famed Spanish white wine grape of Galicia, Albarino, exist in California. Verdad was among the first to recognize the potential and nurture a small planting in the Santa Ynez Valley, in a vineyard that was producing excellent Marsanne. According to proprietor Louisa Sawyer Lindquist (married to Rhone Ranger Bob Lindquist of Qupé Wine Cellars), the gamble was not in the winemaking end, but in the grape growing end; whether the Albarino clonal material and organic growing techniques could produce both a qualitative and quantitative crop at the Ibarra-Young Vineyard.

Sawyer Lindquist was confident about the winemaking aspects. She had visited Spain many times, talked to the top Albarino producers in Rias Baixas about production techniques, and had even worked a harvest there.

The 2005 version is the sixth Albarino vintage for Verdad and perhaps the best yet. Echoing its Galician counterparts, the aromatics are fresh with florals and minerals but also lime and orange blossom. Soft in the mouth at first, it builds its flavor impact with Asian pear, green melon, quince, citrus, all in one tasty package. Some mid palate texture is provided by twenty-five percent neutral barrel fermentation and a nice sweep of saline minerality and racy acidity hits on the finish. A lovely choice for an aperitif, but it really begs for grilled bacon wrapped scallops or a mixed seafood salad.

Reviewed August 16, 2006 by Dennis Schaefer.