The Economist, the Lab Technician & the Boat He Sold for Vines
A Basque economist who moved to Galicia to retire and sail, bought a house with a vineyard by accident, and ended up making the most sought-after Albariños in Spain — Alberto Nanclares and Silvia Prieto farm five hectares of organically tended pergola vines on granitic sand, age their wines for a year or more on lees, and bottle without clarification or filtration.
Origin — The Sailor Who Forgot to Retire
Alberto Nanclares was an economist at the University of Madrid who loved the sea. In 1992, he and his wife left the city for the Atlantic coast of Galicia, settling in Castrelo — a seaside parish just a few kilometres from Cambados, the most historic village for Albariño. The plan was simple: unwind, sail a vintage wooden skiff between the islands of the Ría de Arousa, and live quietly. The house they bought came with a small vineyard behind it. Alberto had no intention of making wine.
But the vines spoke. Alberto began tending them with the help of neighbours, and in 1997 he converted his garage into a tiny winery. At first he farmed conventionally and worked with an enologist. That relationship ended abruptly when the consultant insisted Alberto chemically de-acidify his wines — a standard practice in Rías Baixas that strips the grape of its natural edge. Alberto refused. He fired the consultant, took over the winemaking himself in 2007, and began eliminating chemicals from his vineyards. By the late 1990s, he was farming organically in a region where most growers insisted it was impossible.
The turning point came when Alberto sold his beloved wooden skiff to buy more vineyards — a series of plots in Sanxenxo, at the tip of the Salnés valley where the land juts into the sea. The village wine from those parcels, Tempus Vivendi, carries a sketch of the boat on its label. The sale marked the end of his retirement and the beginning of a new career.
In August 2015, Alberto formed a partnership with Silvia Prieto — a lab technician from Pontevedra who had founded her own consultancy emphasising traditional approaches without additives and organic viticulture. They had met in 2009. By 2015, she was ready to join full-time. Alberto immediately added her name to the label: Nanclares y Prieto. "True to the humble and generous nature of Alberto," as one importer noted. The capacity to produce fine-boned, expressive Albariño increased — and so did the ambition.
The Place — Granitic Sand, Atlantic Salt, and the Pergola
The Val do Salnés is the coolest, wettest, and most Albariño-dense subzone of Rías Baixas — a landscape of green hills, granite outcrops, and tidal inlets where the Atlantic influence is constant. Alberto and Silvia farm roughly five hectares of Albariño, divided into 12 small parcels across three parishes: Castrelo (south Cambados), Vilariño (north Cambados), and Padrenda (north Meaño). All vines are trained in the traditional pergola system — elevated arbours that allow air to circulate in the damp climate and keep fruit above the ground fog.
Sandy Granite, Some Clay
The soils are predominantly sandy decomposed granite with pockets of clay and alluvial deposit. In some parcels — like Paraje Mina — the sand is deep and granitic; in others, like Manzaniña, there is alluvial clay over granite bedrock. Each parcel is vinified separately to preserve its identity.
15 to 100 Years Old
The vines range from 15 to 100 years in age, with some centenarian plants still producing in the Ixertal parcel. Older vines give smaller berries, thicker skins, and more concentrated juice — the raw material for Alberto and Silvia's most structured cuvées.
Organic in a Wet Climate
Alberto has farmed organically since the late 1990s — a feat many considered impossible in Salnés, where humidity and disease pressure are relentless. He treats the soil with algae from the local rías and decomposed grape must from previous vintages, building fertility without synthetics.
67 Plots, One Blanco
For their entry-level Blanco, Alberto and Silvia source from 67 different plots across the Salnés and Condado zones — a mosaic of growers, soils, and exposures that captures the breadth of the region in a single bottle. It is village wine as grand assemblage.
Winemaking — Respect the Grape, Question Everything
The essence of Nanclares y Prieto is reverence for the vineyard and restlessness in the cellar. Alberto and Silvia are never satisfied — always finding a way to improve, constantly questioning their approach, themselves, and each other. "This conversation informs the whole of the project," says one importer. They work as equal partners in vineyard and cellar, and the wines express that collaboration.
The framework is spare but precise: organic farming, native yeast fermentation, no winemaking additions besides moderate SO2, no pied-de-cuve (to preserve the identity of each vineyard), and no potassium de-acidification — the standard Rías Baixas shortcut that Alberto rejects. Malolactic fermentation rarely occurs. The wines spend often a year or more on their lees before being bottled without clarification or filtration.
The vessels vary by cuvée: stainless steel for the fresh village wines, used French oak barrels for the structured single-vineyard expressions, chestnut barrels for the traditional foot-trodden wines, and even clay tinajas for experimental lots. Weekly bâtonnage for the first one to three months, then stillness. The result is a range of Albariños that are angular, age-worthy, and transparent — closer to Chablis than to the soft, fruity Albariño that dominates export markets.
The Wines — From Village Blend to Centenarian Vines
The range is vast for a five-hectare estate — over 20 different wines that move from stainless-steel freshness to chestnut-barrel tradition, from single-parcel Albariño to foot-trodden skin-contact experiments and rare Galician reds.
Blanco
Village Albariño — Salnés & CondadoAlbariño from 67 plots, vines 15–95 years old, on sandy granite, clay and alluvial soils. Whole-cluster pressed, native yeast fermentation in stainless steel plus 5% neutral French oak. Eight months on lees with weekly bâtonnage for three months. Bright, pithy, saline — the Atlantic in a glass.
Alberto Nanclares
Estate Albariño — 8 ParcelsFrom eight of Alberto and Silvia's own parcels — Soverribas, Praeira, Tomada de Juana, Albarellos, Senra, Gandarela, Freixido and Monte Xago. Decomposed granite and sandy loam. Fermented and aged in used French oak barrels. Nine months on lees. Concentrated, stony, vivid — the house style.
Soverribas
Single-Vineyard AlbariñoFrom three west-facing parcels — Manzaniña in Meaño, Ixertal and Casal in Ribadumia. Vines 35 to 100 years old, sandy granitic soils with clay deposits. Fermented in a single 2,200L used French oak barrel. Laser-sharp, salty, tightly wound. A blooming nose of yellow apple, white pepper and lemon verbena.
O Bocoi Vello de Silvia
Traditional Albariño — Foot-TroddenAlbariño from Sanxenxo and Meaño, vines 25–95 years old on clay, granodiorite and sandy granite. Hand-harvested, foot-stomped, two days of maceration on skins and stems, then pressed and fermented in reconditioned 90+-year-old 1,900L chestnut barrels. Seven months on lees. Crisp, bright, sea salt and green herbs.
Coccinella Cepas Vellas
Centenarian AlbariñoFrom the oldest vines of the Ixertal parcel — centenarian Albariño on southwest-facing sandy granite. Bottled on a fruit day following biodynamic principles. Fermented in 400L used French oak. Eleven months on lees. One of the most profound expressions of old-vine Albariño in Spain.
A Senda Vermella
Field Blend RedCaiño and Mencía from several parcels, vines 15–95 years old on sandy granite. Foot-trodden in plastic vats, 21 days of skin maceration, then pressed and aged in used French oak and stainless steel. Savoury, herbal, bright with a mineral streak. High acid, distinctive, unmistakably Galician.
Legacy — The Dauvissat of the Atlantic
Nanclares y Prieto matters because they proved that Albariño can be serious. In a region where the dominant style is soft, fruity, chemically adjusted, and released young, Alberto and Silvia have made wines that are angular, age-worthy, and transparent — wines that demand attention rather than quenching thirst. One importer compares them to Vincent Dauvissat and François Raveneau: winemakers whose profound knowledge of terroir transcended their appellation. "Like the finest Chablis, each of these Albariños express a distinct and stunning singularity of site."
Their legacy is also agricultural. Alberto was among the first in Rías Baixas to farm organically — not as a marketing label, but because he observed that chemicals harmed his wines. He has never used potassium to de-acidify, never employed selected yeasts, never filtered or clarified. The result is a body of work that carries the saline base note of the Galician coast in every bottle — a transparency that has become the benchmark for the region.
Through Silvia's arrival in 2015, the project has also ensured continuity. Where many small Galician estates face extinction when their founder retires, Nanclares y Prieto has built a partnership that will outlast Alberto's sailing days. The boat is gone, sold for vines in Sanxenxo. But the sketch remains on the label — a reminder that sometimes the best wines come from the things we give up.