Mixtura Blanco Albarino 2019 (750ml)

Producer's Notes

Mixtura was born of an ideology built on the search and recovery of historical vineyards and their native varieties along the course of the ancient river valleys of northwestern Spain’s border with Portugal. Working with grape varieties that straddled the Miño river centuries before a border even existed, Guti has left the geographical and political restrictions of appellations behind him in order to focus on discovering the purest expressions of terroir. Gutier makes Mixtura Blanco with treixadura and albariño grapes from five villages where Galicia and Portugal meet in the northwest corner of the Iberian Peninsula, each with different microclimates. The treixadura comes exclusively from the heart of the Ribeiro region in Galicia, primarily from east facing vineyards in the village of Berán, between 90 and 200 meters, in soils consisting of sábrego–sandy decomposed granite. Ribeiro has a transitional climate with a Mediterranean character that is moderated by the influence of the Atlantic Ocean. Half of the albariño for the Mixtura blend comes from a vineyard in Condado do Tea, the southernmost subzone of Rías Baixas, bordering Portugal. Condado do Tea extends inland from the O Rosal subzone following the Miño River into a rugged, mountainous landscape. In Condado do Tea, vineyards are directly on the Tea River, a tributary of the Miño river, that divides Spain and Portugal. This subregion lies further inland from the coast and is less affected by the cooling oceanic influence, so it tends to be a warmer territory than Val do Salnés. Gutier’s vineyard here is south-facing, located at an altitude of 400 meters. The soils are shallow sandy decomposed granite (sábrego); however, the vineyards in Condado do Tea have slate subsoils near the surface, an excellent conduit for heat retention that contribute to earlier ripening. The other half of the albariño for the blend is a selection of old vines (60-90 years old) from the villages of Prado, Alvarado, and Penso in Melgaço, a sub-zone of the Portuguese Vinho Verde D.O. The Melgaço subzone consists of vineyards planted on the hillsides of the Miño river valley’s southern bank in sábrego soils, across from the Condado do Tea subzone. Vines occupy an amphitheater facing the river. The albariño from this region is aromatically expressive, with great elegance and intensity on the palate. Mixtura crafts grand, structured wines with great intensity and character, capable of developing in bottle for at least a decade or more. Mixtura Blanco is a complex, sophisticated, and thought-provoking wine produced in limited quantities.