Lalume, Dominio do Bibei 2018

The Lalume Blanco from Dominio do Bibei is a completely different wine from the winery’s Lapola Blanco bottling, as the cépages here is ninety-eight percent Treixadura and two percent Albariño. Additionally, these vines are located in Ribeiro, rather than Ribeira Sacra. Here, the vineyards are planted in clay soils. The wine is fermented with indigenous yeasts and raised in a combination of cement, barriques and foudres. The 2018 Lalume Blanco comes in at 13.5 percent alcohol and offers up a beautifully complex nose of pear, apple, raw almond, lemongrass, a hint of green olive, a good base of soil and a delicate foundation of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, focused and wide open in personality, with a fine core of fruit, lovely balance and grip and a long, zesty and complex finish. This wine is ready to drink at four years of age and probably will not be quite as long-lived as the 2019 Lapola Blanco, but will drink with distinction for several more years to come. 2022-2026.