Bodegas La Val : Gran Añada 2019

This light- to medium-bodied white's toasty overtone of brioche and smoke is nicely integrated with notes of creamed apple, tangerine peel and chamomile. Rich yet well-defined and balanced by clean-cut acidity and a salty underpinning. Drink now through 2029. 300 cases made, 100 cases imported.

Luscious nose of frangipane, ripe yellow apple, quince, pear jam and preserved lemon sprinkled with toasted almonds and covered with the thinnest veil of gunpowder. Unctuous creaminess on the palate, with a fleshy core of yellow orchard fruit topped by honey and melting butter. Fleshy minerality adding robustness, freshness and a salty edge. Interesting tension between fleshy nuttiness and elegant smokiness. Needs time in the glass for all the aromas and flavours to fully bloom. Good ageing potential.

Intense honeyed lemons with touches of pomelo skins, oatmeal, oysters and minerals. Salty and concentrated, with a broad, lengthy finish. Drink or hold.

Full bottle 1,387 g. Tasted blind and then tasted again (not blind) several times over several days. Liquorice cream. Really rather silky and contained, but a sense of hidden minerality and tropical richness under its pale cloak of cool, white, basil flowers. A wine that needs a little time and patience to come around and then tastes of the wild fennel forests and the yellow gorse flowers that shake their golden aniseed perfume across Galicia. Bitter-orange peel and lovely tension on the finish. Over the several days it was open, it seemed to gather a cheesecake richness, showing more luscious fruit – mango fool, passion fruit – becoming more dramatic and glamorous. (TC)

The 2019 Albariño La Val Gran Añada features a selection of the finest Albariño parcels from the southern Rías Baixas, grown on alluvial soils with red schist and granite at altitudes of 50–350 meters. This wine offers aromas of lemon pie, pastry, and a hint of hydrocarbons, complemented by touches of buttery richness and yeast. It delivers a creamy, intense, and fresh experience with a broad, structured mouthfeel. This is an excellent expression of lees aging.