Nanclares y Prieto

Alberto Nanclares and Silvia Prieto are the definitive "high-wire" act of Rías Baixas. Based in the village of Cambados, the duo produces some of the most transparent, saline, and age-worthy Albariños in Spain. Alberto, a former economist, originally moved to the region to retire and sail, but he quickly became obsessed with the old, pergola-trained vines that surrounded his home. In 2015, he partnered with lab technician and winemaker Silvia Prieto, further refining their meticulous, site-specific approach.

The project is defined by a commitment to organic farming in a region where high humidity makes such a task notoriously difficult. To build natural resistance in the vines, they use a unique compost made from grape pomace and local Atlantic algae. In the cellar, the winemaking is stripped-back and daring: no commercial yeasts, no chemical de-acidification, and rarely any malolactic fermentation. Instead, they rely on extended lees aging - often a year or more - to provide texture and balance to the variety’s naturally bracing acidity.

Working across dozens of tiny parcels, Nanclares y Prieto treat Albariño with a curiosity usually reserved for Riesling or Chardonnay, utilising everything from stainless steel and used French oak to traditional chestnut barrels and clay tinajas. The resulting wines are "pithy," vertical, and intensely saline, offering a pure, unadorned expression of the Galician coast that values tension and terroir over tropical fruitiness.