2025 La Cana Albarino Rias Baixas

Jorge Ordonez is the guy who put Albarino on the map — first exporter of the grape from Rias Baixas to the world in the early 1990s, back before the D.O. even officially existed.

He founded Bodegas La Cana in 2008 with a specific mission: prove Albarino can be serious wine, not just the mass-produced summer sipper it's so often reduced to.

The estate sits in the Valley of Salnes, in the village of Zamar, overlooking the Ria de Arousa. Atlantic climate, gulf stream influence, humid air most of the year — textbook Rias Baixas. Ordonez sources from old vineyards planted between 1975 and 2001, then splits the fermentation: 25% in older mid-sized oak (500L to 600L barrels, some up to twelve vintages old), 75% in stainless.

Eight months on the lees with bi-weekly batonnage in both barrel and tank. The result is an Albarino with actual structure — complexity, intensity, and the kind of longevity you don't expect from a grape most people treat like Pinot Grigio.

The 2025 is riper in style, with peach and tropical fruit running through the core, balanced by Rias Baixas' signature saline, maritime backbone.

Punchy citrus, tart apple, dried herbs, coriander, a flinty edge. The palate is gentle but dense, pure and refreshing, with mineral and rock notes that linger.

The finish shows peach, yellow apple, a subtle bit of salty sea breeze. It's the kind of white that makes you rethink what Albarino can do.