2023 Dominio do Bibei Lalume Ribeiro

The 2023 LaLume is 85% Treixadura with other local varieties from Ribeiro. Aged for six to seven months in barrel, stainless steel and concrete, it delivers the region’s hallmark profile with notes of honey and delicate flowers, plus a herbal touch. This is broad and unctuous, with a straightforward palate. It offers a long, lightly saline finish. This is an expressive white with a subtle nod to the New World. 93 points

I was quite impressed when I put my nose in the glass of the 2023 Lalume, their white from Ribeiro. 2023 was far from easy there, and they had to do a lot of selection, sorting and discarding. But the hard work seems to have paid off, and the wine is delicate, expressive, intense and clean, with complexity, mixing notes of white and yellow fruit, herbs and flowers. It was produced with a blend of 88% Treixadura, 6% Albariño, 5% Godello and the rest Caíño Branco, Torrontés and Loureira. It fermented with indigenous yeasts in different materials and sizes: stainless steel, concrete eggs and large barrels and foudres, where the wine matured with fine lees and without going through malolactic fermentation, the blend finishing in large 12,000-liter stainless steel vats. It`s round and fresh, with contained ripeness, 13.1% alcohol, a pH of 3.3 and 5.9 grams of acidity, coming through as balanced. It`s elegant, pure and focused like never before. 44,084 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2024. 94 points