August 2025 Blanco y Branco Club

Espelt Pla de Gates 2022 Blanc Regular Price: $36.99 Club Price: $31.44 Buy Now

It’s Back — Pla de Gates Blanc! Wine Club members ask about (and we missed too)

Over the past year, we’ve had a bunch of regulars stop by the Berkeley shop and ask the same thing: “Hey, can you still get that wine with the megalith on the label?” Or sometimes just, “That Anna Espelt wine... you know the one.”

We knew exactly what they meant. Pla de Gates Blanc made an impression. We've brought it back and perfect for late summer. If you’ve had it before, you know just how special it is. If not, let us catch you up.

Anna Espelt is a winemaker in Empordà, way up in northeastern Spain, where the mountains meet the Mediterranean. She farms organically in a wild, and windy place called Mas Marés (think granite soil, ocean air, and the scent of wild herbs in every direction.) Her vineyard is part of a protected nature reserve, and when she started working there she discovered ancient stone monuments built 4,000 years ago (That’s the stone you see on the label of her Garnacha.) a reminder that people have been connected to this land for millennia.

Pla de Gates Blanc is made from Garnacha Blanca and Garnacha Gris, picked by hand and kept whole and cool to preserve freshness and aromatics. After a short bit of skin contact, the wine is fermented and aged in egg-shaped cement vessels, a detail that might sound technical, but makes a real difference. The shape encourages a natural flow of the wine during fermentation and aging, and the porous cement allows for gentle oxygen exchange. The result? A wine that’s layered, textured, and full of life without ever losing its brightness. In the glass, it’s got this beautiful mix of zesty citrus, white peach, and green apple, with subtle hints of almond, minty herbs, and a salty snap on the finish all carried on a clean, mineral backbone that feels straight from the sea.

Oh ! And Anna kind of casually mentioned that these are the house wines at Disfrutar, which was recently named the best restaurant in the world — No big deal.

We’re so excited to have this one back in the shop and in the Wine Club. To those of you who remembered it and asked, thank you for keeping it on our radar. And if you’re just discovering it now, we’re excited for you to fall in love with it too.

Anna Espelt bringing her wines to the shop 2024

“I knew about the incredible work she had done in Emporda, mapping the soil types and making sense of a mosaic like region. I suspect few people have spent even half the amount of time in the vineyards as she, and I can think of no better candidate for our viticultor of the year award."

– Best Grower of the Year, Tim Atkin's 2025 Catalunya Special Report

Eidos de Padriñan 2023 Albariño Regular Price: $32.99 Club Price: $28.04 Buy Now

If you’ve ever had an Albariño and thought, “This is nice,” but then had one that made you pause and go, “Wait, this is something else” that’s the kind of moment this wine delivers, and to understand why, it helps to know a little about where it comes from.

While Albariño is now being grown in a few other areas around the world, its birthplace is Galicia, and the most true-to-form Albariños come only from Rias Baixas, up in the northwest corner of Spain known for its cool, misty coastline and amazing seafood. The spot this wine comes from, Val do Salnés, is tucked right up against the Atlantic, so the vines get loads of sea air and moisture. That ocean influence is a big part of what makes Albariños from this area so zippy and refreshing. Adega Eidos is a small, family-run winery that's been working with Albariño since the early '90s, and they've really leaned into the traditional, hands-on way of making wine that respects the land and the local style. Their Eidos de Padriñán is a great example of what makes this region so special.

The name gives you a few clues: “Eidos” refers to these old-school, backyard-style vineyards where the vines are trained on pergolas. It might look a little unusual if you haven’t seen it before where the grapes are growing overhead, like a canopy, but there’s a reason for it. This part of Spain gets a lot of rain and humidity, so lifting the vines off the ground helps with airflow and keeps the fruit healthy. It’s a tradition that goes way back, and it also happens to create some beautiful, shady vineyards.

“Padriñán” is the name of the hillside where the grapes are grown, just above the fishing town of Sanxenxo. It’s a stunning spot with old, ungrafted vines some up to 100 years old growing in granite soils that give the wine this really nice mineral backbone. You can taste the influence of the place in wine.

'La Madama de Silgar' presents a shell to beachgoers in the fishing village of Sanxenxo

What makes this bottle stand out from other Albariños we’ve had on our shelves is the age of the vines, for one, but also the way the wine is made. They farm sustainably, harvest by hand, and ferment with native yeasts, so there’s no over-manipulating going on. The wine spends some time on its lees, which gives it a little extra texture and roundness without losing that classic Albariño brightness.

I tried this one recently with some of our Bogar Mussels in Galiciaan Sauce and I was instantly sold. It’s got that citrusy zip Albariño is known for, but there’s more going on—a savory, saline edge that just made everything pop. Flavor-wise, it’s got a lot going on, fresh lime and stone fruit, a little herbal edge, and this great salty finish that’s just begging to be paired with shellfish. It’s crisp and refreshing but also has more depth and complexity than your average Albariño. If you like wines that are clean and coastal but have a little more depth or body, this one’s a real standout.