Okay. Let’s start with a little quiz.
Warm evening
Good friends
Platters of delicious tapas
____________
Fiery flamenco music.
What is missing from the above list?
Hill Family Estate’s 2021 “Stewart Ranch” Albarino, of course!
Fortunately, we have the remedy for that! Just in time for summer, Hill Family Estate is pleased to announce the release of this delicious, crisp, citrus-tinged white wine! As one of the best wineries in Yountville you are sure to not be disappointed.
Albarino, known as Alvarinho in Portuguese, is from the northwest corner of the Iberian peninsula, right on the border of Spain and Portugal. The evidence is a little vague as to which side of the border it originates from, but it is prized by Portuguese and Spaniards alike. In both Portugal, where the grape is central to zippy vinhos verdes, and in the Spanish Rias Baixas region of Galicia, albarinos are served with the abundant and excellent shellfish that grace the tables on either side of the border.
What makes albarino thrive in Portugal and Spain also makes for exceptional wines in the lowest part of the Napa Valley. Cooled by the summer fogs from San Pablo Bay, the Stewart Ranch, at just slightly above sea level, stays cool throughout the growing season. While 2021 had a few hot spells over 95 degrees, this low-lying area comes nowhere close to the searing day time temperatures further north in the Napa Valley. Even during hot spells, the nighttime temperature drops, preserving the malic acid vital to the crisp profile of albarino.
Harvested on August 31, whole cluster pressed, and fermented in stainless steel, this wine was rested on the lees for 1 month before racking and bottling. The resulting wine, in the words of Hill Family Estate winemaker Alison Doran, “offers aromas of lime blossom, lime leaf, sweet pea and chamomile. The palate is filled with bright, lime flavors that lead to a satiny finish.”
For food pairing albarino is traditionally served with shellfish, where the whopping 9.2 g/L of titratable acidity and citrusy aromas harmonize beautifully with the briny sweetness found in the bounty from the sea. While most of us will sip albarino from wine glasses, many of its aficionados will swear by drinking it from a porron, a glass vessel with a long spout that directs the wine into the mouth of the imbiber, who must take care not to let his lips touch the spout. A virtuoso can take wine this way from quite a distance, similar to how the boda bag is used.
Whether sipped from a glass, taken from a glass porron, served with percebes y gambas, or with nibbles of Spanish chorizo and olives, we are sure that you are going to shout “Ole!” when you taste the Hill Family Estate 2021 “Stewart Ranch” Albarino.
Make your reservations to sip some of this wine from one of the best wineries in Yountville with Hill Family Estate.