Bing cherry and vanilla aromas are joined by earthy notes of post-rain petrichor. The wine's gossamer texture is mesmerizing, almost allowing flavors like red raspberries, coriander and orange zest to escape unnoticed. The Grad Clos is an exercise in balance and restraint, with crisp acidity and fine, grainy tannins. 

At first, this wine is steely and unyielding. With some glass swirling, a beautiful aromatic tapestry of French lemon-scented laundry powder, oak spice and melon wrapped in Prosciutto unfurls. Then bright, juicy acidity opens the floodgates, with flavors of lemon zest, wet slate and filberts washing over the palate. Try everything you can to find this wine.

The 2019 Gran Vino de Guarda La Comtesse is 100% Albariño from Pago Cacheiro, hailing from a 1.4-hectare vineyard within Finca Barrantes. Planted in 1965, this is only the tenth vintage. Aged for five years—one year in 3,000-liter oak casks, one in concrete and three in bottle—it opens with menthol and oak, alongside creamy notes. Broad and compact with elevated freshness, the 2019 offers a saline edge and layered complexity.

The 2021 Gran Vino Pazo Barrantes is a 100% Albariño from Ribadumia, Valle del Salnés, Rías Baixas. After cold fermentation, 15% of the wine spent three months in acacia barrels with lees, followed by six months in tanks and at least two years in bottle. The 2021 opens with orange blossom and tuberose aromas, hints of herbs, acacia wood and soft peach tones. The creamy palate offers delicate tension and an elegant, floral finish, revealing some emerging tertiary notes. This is a distinctive Albariño shaped by extended bottle-aging.

A pure note of ripe and juicy pear is enriched by a skein of salted butter, vanilla and creamed almond accents, while tangerine peel acidity provides lively lift and focus. Long and creamy on the palate, with minerally smoke. Hints of dried thyme and chamomile emerge to linger on the finish. Pinot Bianco, Chardonnay and Picolit. Drink now through 2032.