Luzada Albarino – Young and Sassy!

A tart and salty Bulk Buy from Trader Joe’s, the Luzada Rias Baixas Albarino from Bodega Paco & Lola.

Albarino from Val do Saines, Rias Baixas, Galicia, Spain. The wine has 3 g/L of residual sugar.

The Luzada Albarino is available exclusively at Trader Joe’s and sells for just $6.99. (Although it looks like it may be available through other retailers outside the US.)

The wine is made by the same producer as the excellent Paco & Lola Albarino, Sociedad Cooperativa Vitivinícola Arousana, a cooperative of growers in the Val do Salnés region of Rias Baixas. The Luzada evidently comes from some of their younger vines. Imported by Latitude Wines.

We’ve always loved Albarino whether from Rias Baixas or from Portugal where it is called Alvarinho, so we were excited to pluck this one off the shelf at our local Trader Joe’s. It did not disappoint.

The 2017 Luzada Albarino begins with quite attractive aromas of fresh citrus, melon and touches of tropical fruit including a little banana. Tasting the wine reveals it to be a touch sweet and a touch salty, which is a really a nice combination and great example of Albarino from Rias Baixas. (And when we say sweet we’re referring to sweet fruit flavors, not sugar. At only 3 g/L of residual sugar it’s definitely not a sweet wine in the sugar sense.)

Zippy acidity and lots of tangy, tart fruit plus a smooth, pleasing mouthfeel lead into the long, tart and tasty finish of lingering salty minerality. This is a lovely wine especially for just $7!