2021 La Val Finca Arantei Albarino Rias Baixas is sold out.

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A paragon of excellence from a pioneering estate.

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  • 92 pts James Suckling
    92 pts JS
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2021 La Val Finca Arantei Albarino Rias Baixas 750 ml

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  • Curated by unrivaled experts
  • Choose your delivery date
  • Temperature controlled shipping options
  • Get credited back if a wine fails to impress

A Triumph of Spanish Expressiveness—and a Terrific Value

The majority of wine-producing land in northwest Spain’s Rías Baixas region is fragmented into thousands of tiny parcels. The families that farm these sites often band together to streamline production, which is why many Albariños are made at cooperatives using grapes from dozens—or even hundreds—of farms. 

Many of these Albariños are excellent, and smart buys to boot. But there are smaller, much rarer wines that capture the purity and focus of single, prime parcels. In these bottlings, the essence of this sea-sprayed, sun-saturated, magical corner of Spain shines through like nothing else.

The 2021 La Val Finca Arantei is one such cuvée. It’s a paragon of excellence in its category. An unoaked, estate-grown, single-vineyard Albariño from a critically acclaimed producer, it was among the best releases of the vintage.

Bodegas La Val was among the pioneering estates of Rías Baixas and one of the first to bottle estate-grown wine. Under winemaker Jose Maria Ureta—considered one of Rías Baixas’s rising stars—recent releases have ranked among the region’s highest-rated wines.

The 2021 Finca Arantei bottling is characterized by the trademark ripeness and fleshiness of the organically farmed vineyard of the same name, which sits at the extreme southern end of the Condado do Tea subregion. Located a bit farther inland than many surrounding vineyards, the site sees plentiful sunshine and heat, resulting in an Albariño with a beautifully rounded body but still tons of crystalline acidity. 

In the cellar, Ureta uses wild-yeast fermentation and allows the wine to rest on the lees for at least three months, with regular batonnage. What ultimately emerges is a single-vineyard  triumph of expressiveness—and a terrific value for the masterful quality it delivers.