This Albariño is like a refreshing walk on the beach!

Green apple, peach, and lots of citrus. A delicious Albariño with beautiful minerality! Because the vineyard is beautifully situated so close to the sea, you truly experience a certain salinity in the wine. Combined with its dry style, the Chaves Castel de Fornos Albariño is the ideal partner for shellfish. It is delightfully aromatic with pineapple, mango, and citrus on the nose. Additionally, there is some floral notes and a refined salinity. Fruity with lively, energetic acidity. The finish is again slightly salinous and a touch mineral. We truly call this a crisp wine, but because the wine rests on its lees for 3 months, it gains some extra complexity and creaminess. Grilled razor clams, langoustines, periwinkles, and of course, the “good old” Dutch mussel pot. And a nice creamy dip is certainly allowed alongside that.

The Chaves Castel de Fornos Albariño comes from the Castel de Fornos vineyard in the Rías Baixas region of Galicia. The vineyard is located in the village of Fornos, on a hill between the villages of Cambados and Ribadumia. The soil is stony, with granite, clay, and sand. The vineyard is situated very close to the sea, at a low elevation above sea level (60 meters), and consequently experiences strong maritime influences from the Atlantic Ocean. It seems as if the salt from the air clings to the grapes. All vines are trained upwards on pergolas so that the wind can blow freely through the vineyards.

Bodegas Chaves

A family business that produces wines in the Spanish wine region of Galicia. Galicia is quite unique in Spain due to its bone-dry white wines. Since 1955, they have been making very attractive Albariño wines. This makes them the oldest winery in the region. Consequently, there is a wealth of knowledge and experience here. They also produce surprising wines from other regions in Galicia. In Monterrei, fresh Godello and Mencía made. In Ribeiro, however, a spicy Treixadura.

Chaves played a very important role in the establishment of the D.O. Rías Baixas, which is now internationally regarded as the premier region for high-quality Albariño. Cándido Chaves quickly recognized the great potential of Rías Baixas. In the 1980s, Cándido encouraged seven other winemakers to join him in securing a protected geographical indication for the region. After much hard work, the region was officially recognized as a D.O. in 1988, along with the accompanying regulations for the use of Albariño as the primary grape variety. Chaves is the first winery to be officially registered in the D.O. Rías Baixas.

In 1990, Chaves won the Baco di Oro with his Albariño: a very important prize in Spain. For the first time, the prize was not won by a white French or Italian wine, but by an Albariño from Spain. From that moment on, Albariño and Chaves' wine gained great recognition.