JancisRobinson.com

• By Julia Harding, MW
  10/29/2009 (link)

  (Eidos, Eidos de Padriñan Albariño Rías Baixas White) Subscribe to see review text.

Garagiste

• By Jon Rimmerman
  7/1/2009 (link)

  (EIDOS Eidos) Albarino Dear Friends, ...and now something for those with a sense of place. If you've been scratching your head over the 2006 Zarate Albarino (wondering where the acidity and sea shell character is?), you will not have to search very far with Adegas Eidos. This is one of the most famous producers in Spain, crafting examples of a most serious nature but most of you have never heard of them? Within Spain, Eidos is considered among the 2-3 finest white wine producers in the country and their latest results will continue to stoke the flame. From the mysterious and mostly unexplored Rias Baixas in Spain's far northwest corner, this is the Iberian answer to the Irish west coast (with palm trees). While still rugged and undisturbed in many ways, the region has a continental, Atlantic influenced climate that is a yin/yang of outstanding heating degree days in summer and cold, sea-influenced nights. If you thought all of Spain was a torrid, dessert-like country with a kinship for Tuscany (rather than Scotland), think again - Rias Baixas, while certainly soaked in solar bliss in the summer, can be windy, cold and much like the coast of Maine for parts of the year but the Spanish sun (and soil) keeps the area around Pontevedra quasi-Mediterranean in feel. It is here, among the steep and terraced hills above the sea that we begin... 2007 Adegas Eidos Albarino "Eidos de Padrinan" (Rias Baixas) Exposed to thousands of miles of undisturbed Atlantic ocean tumult, Rias Baixas is a near-perfect region for early ripening white grapes (the area is far trickier for reds). Set above the harbor of Sanxenxo (one of Europe's most expensive beach towns - akin to a Galician St. Tropez), this estate holds one of the more enviable positions in the region. It is placed just right, between the outcroppings of the Padrinan which shield it from the climactic tumult noted above but allow the vines to soak up the cool air and sunshine. From a great vintage for white wine, this example is pressed from 40-60 year old Albarino vines and it will challenge your sense of place and your senses. Cool-toned with liquid lime and rock that mingle gracefully next to ginger and gorgeous, bright acidity that cuts like a knife through the local oysters and delicious shellfish of the region, this is the quintessential, top-end Albarino that starts out peaked but melds into a floral, mildly extractive dry wine with low-alcohol and very bright length to keep you coming back for a second and third sip. Very well done indeed: 2007 Adegas Eidos Albarino "Veigas de Padrinan" (Rias Baixas) EXTREMELY LIMITED Where the Eidos de Padrinan is full of frivolity and hope, the Veigas is the elder statesman that doesn't need to prove anything - its old-money pedigree speaks for itself. This is a brooding, fantastic version of Albarino from 80-100 year old vines that made me (literally) dance in the street. Severe, difficult and full of incredible levels of pure extractive that drink like a nectar or tonic of Albarino grapes, this wine stays on the palate for nearly 60 seconds. The glycerol style of the wine is buttressed by the most glorious biting acidity and mineral soaked framework that keeps everything in check. This wine is something to behold and it is among the very finest white wines of Spain - should age in the short-mid-term as well: Thank you, Jon Rimmerman Garagiste Seattle, WA Spain6377 Spain6378