Narupa Vinos

A new, boutique Albarino project making its way to British shores for the very first time, we are delighted to introduce the wines of Narupa to our learned customers and friends. Established as recently as 2013, Narupa was born out of a desire to take back historic family vineyards from co-operative control and produce mightily fine, ageworthy Albarinos of distinct personality and character. Starting off with a mere 0.3HA in 2013, as of 2021, the project has expanded to a mighty 1.5 hectares in total! Consequently, production is small but intensely focused on delivering Albarinos that defy expectations, given the white glove treatment, and produced with minimal intervention in the winery. All of the wines hail from the lauded Salnes appellation; by all accounts the best part of Rias Baixas for Albarino, with vines planted on sandy granitic soils in both coastal and inland locations. Challenging viticultural conditions make organics and biodynamic practices difficult, but the Narupa philosophy sets out to purge the vineyards of harmful chemicals and gradually improve soil nutriency and health. Spontaneous fermentations are carried out in oak and aging takes place for a year in barrel. Unusually, the wines are then held back in bottle for an extended period of time to take on mature, complex characteristics before being released at such time the estate deem them “ready to drink”. “Alala” is the estate’s flagship wine, a selection of the best fruit of the year, while Salicornia and Piorno represent the coastal and inland expressions, respectively. Caneco is an entry level bottling that over-delivers on its price. In winemaker Rosa Pedrosa’s own words, “our wines are not necessarily about the vintage. I love mature wines of breadth, freshness and complexity. Achieving that has always been my goal.”