This wine is a xarel-lo from VallDolina in Penedès in Spain. The grape variety, challenging to remember for the non Spanish speaker, is one of the blending varieties in Cava sparkling wine. Here it is a presented as a single variety and a table wine. This wine is very minerally, saline and earthy. Imagine a Cava, but not a sparkling one. The palate is light to medium bodied, crisp and the alcohol a low 12%. The wine’s finish is saline. By way of comparison to other white wines, it sits as a minerally example that doesn’t have intense fruit, so it is firmly an old world style. While from a different country and grape variety altogether, lighter styles of grüner veltliner can be like this. So if you need an excuse to try a xarel-lo, that might be the time. Drink this wine over the next year or two. Review Rating: Good (★★★, 87 points). Website: Valldolina. Tasted: March 2026. Like: Subscribe.
