2020 Torrontes (aka Albillo Mayor)**
Abel Mendoza
San Vicente, Rioja

$44.99 x 12 bottles+

**Torrontés is the same grape called Albillo Mayor in Ribera del Duero (not to be confused with Torrontes in Argentina or the Albillo Real from Gredos, the Albillla from Manchuela or the Albillo Criollo from the Canary Islands)

In 1997 a friend of Abel and Maite who had been studying native grape varieties told them that they should look for plantings of Torrontés in the area as he had found some documents mentioning that the grape had been in San Vicente and La Bastida since the 1800s. Over the years, farmers had been pulling it out and it was being forgotten. Abel and Maite quickly found a farmer with a very old vineyard plot with a mixture of varieties, one of which was Torrontés. He allowed them to take some cuttings and start their own plantings. At the time, Torrontés was not recognized by the Consejo Regulador and wines could not be labelled as such. With the first wine Abel and Maite produced, they labelled it with a small “T” in the top corner so their close customers would know what it was. In 2009, the Consejo added Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Verdejo to the list of allowed varieties and agreed to include Torrontés and Tempranillo Blanco due to pressure from Abel Mendoza and other producers now working with the grapes. The first vintage they produced came from the original old plot where they found the vines. The wine is now being made from a few plots of the younger vines planted by Abel, with the oldest plot around 28 years old. - Importer

• 100% Torrontes (Albillo Mayor)

Tasting Note:
The nose is concentrated and elegant with white fruit notes like apple, pear, and citrus with lime and orange zest. The palate is well balanced with good structure and invokes memories of citrus, citrus zest, white peaches, and apricots.
RP WA Scores from Gutierrez:
2019 93 Points
2018 93 Points
2016 92+ Points

2019 93 Points (Guttierez): Torrontés, or Turruntés as Mendoza calls it, is the same grape called Albillo Mayor in Ribera del Duero (not to be confused with the Albillo Real from Gredos, the Albillla from Manchuela or the Albillo Criollo from the Canary Islands), a variety that existed in Rioja in the 18th century and then disappeared. He produced two barrels of the 2019 Torrontés, hand-picking the grapes from the individual vines of the variety that are interplanted with the reds in the old vineyards. Vinified and aged in barrel, it feels more expressive and complete than the Malvasía and certainly fresher than the Tempranillo Blanco. This is the white with lower alcohol in 2019, 13.5%, in a warm, dry and low-yielding year, and the wine shows volume and glycerin and good freshness. Excellent. Only 600 bottles were filled in March 2020.