Rubén López-Cortés didn’t have any connection to wine until quite recently, although he grew up in Ourense, surrounded by four out of five Galician DOs. He tells me that his family made wine for home consumption, and that was the extent of his wine experience. Life led him to scientific research, and he ended up working in molecular oncology. But wine was never far away. Feeling a certain itch to get closer to the wine industry, he began to educate himself in tasting, and eventually realized that enology could be a viable path, and took the plunge.
He ended up becoming the scientific consultant to the Bullipedia Sapiens del Vino wine encyclopedia, spearheaded by iconic Spanish chef Ferran Adriá, charged with translating scientific language into everyday terms. From there, he’s stayed close to the world of wine, and now he’s embarking on his own winemaking project, Terra Silis.
We spoke about the molecular basis for aromas in Galician wine.
What are we smelling when we taste a wine? What molecules are responsible for Albariño tasting like Albariño?
Like any good Galician, Rubén tells me that “it depends.” One important factor in wine aromas are pre-fermentative aromas and post-fermentative aromas. Pre-fermentative aromas are what some people refer to as “varietal aromas,” that might distinguish one variety from another.
You have aromas like methoxypyrazines, which relate to ripening curves, and terpenes, which are an immense family of molecules found in all plants. Some main ones are nerol, geraniol, and linalool, along with some minor ones that Rubén says add aromatic nuances.
He tells me that research has shown through studies of plant gene expression, that grapevines (Vitis vinifera) have a very high terpene synthesis, which is probably due to domestication. Few other plant varieties have been worked on as extensively by humans to enhance their aromas. Compare the aromatic variety in grapes to that of lettuce, for example.
Albariño in particular is fascinating because for many years, it was thought to be related to Riesling. Rubén thinks that a lot of this debate arose simply from comparative tastings—the two are extraordinarily similar because of their terpene richness and “tropical exuberance”. While recent Albariño styles lean towards more restrained, finer expressions, the terpenic exuberance of earlier styles is more in line with Riesling or even Muscat.
I pointed out that tasting older Albariños is fascinating because they can develop that petrol or kerosene note that Riesling is famous for. This comes from the molecule TDN, which is a terpene or terpenoid.
Rubén gives me the short explanation for why this is: TDN is unstable, and can break down under stress, accumulating over time. If a vineyard is under specific stress conditions, usually lacking water and light, the Albariño accumulates a molecule that’s a precursor to TDN. Initially, this precursor isn’t aromatic, and we can’t detect it through any means other than a lab analysis. But given enough time and the right conditions, it breaks down and releases TDN, leading to those petrol or kerosene aromas.
What should people know about aging Albariño?
Albariño is an incredible variety for aging, as are many Galician varieties, he says. Sommeliers often say that acidity is the best method of preservation, and in Galicia, you have an abundance of acidity. The Atlantic climate and the poor soils traditionally made ripening a challenge. But as a result, there’s plenty of acidity, which provides tremendous longevity to the wines. Albariño’s natural acidity doesn’t fade much over time. In fact, a wine with six grams per liter of tartaric acid will likely have the same level 20 years later, but our perception of freshness may decrease due to aromatic changes.
Rubén tells me that one thing they talked a lot about at Bullipedia was “that we had to distinguish between acidity and freshness. Sometimes we use it a bit so as not to repeat ourselves, so we say ‘this wine has a lot of freshness,’ ‘it has acidity,’ but they’re different concepts.”
When we perceive flavors, the brain joins different inputs and if you smell a citrusy wine, you’ll always tend to put the wine higher on the acidity scale than one without that citrus aroma, even if the acidity on the palate is exactly the same, he tells me.
The last thing I bring up is the consumer’s perception: traditionally, Albariño goes on sale in November of the same year it was harvested, and then wineries are sold out in April. People think of it as a young wine. People should know that Albariño can develop complex aromas associated with age.
Rubén agrees: “the market conditions are such that wineries may not be able to store stock to age wines, but I encourage anyone who wants Albariño to keep two cases or two bottles or whatever you can: one to enjoy it when young and the other one to forget about for a while. You can take anything from an entry-level wine to a top-of-the-range one, and it will surprise you. The risk of aging a bottle of Albariño is very low. I’ve tasted absolutely incredible wines with 10 or 20 years of age, both entry level and top wines. In fact, in the last tasting that Ferrán [Centelles] did for Rías Baixas, one thing that surprised him a lot was that the difference between the entry-level wines and the single-vineyard wines in Rías Baixas was so tiny compared to other regions. In other words, we have great Albariño wines at our disposal, and we have no excuse to try this variety with a few years of age.”