Quinta de Seixalvo 2022 White

Helena de la Calle González makes Albariño in a very specific area of Sanxenxo, in the Salnés region, but outside the boundaries of DO Rías Baixas. Her vineyards lie in the Bordóns valley, a southeast-facing area overlooking the Ría de Pontevedra estuary.

In the 1970s, Helena's parents moved from Madrid to Galicia, settling in Lugar de Seixalvo, a small hamlet within Sanxenxo. There, her father planted half a hectare of Albariño vines and made wine at home for family and friends. Helena has fond childhood memories of picking grapes and sharing special moments over wine.

She pursued a career in marketing and commercial management in companies unrelated to wine, often working outside Spain. In 2019, she decided to return and breath new life into the family vineyard. “I had always heard that my father's wine was very special, and I realised that it had more character and structure than most commercial Albariño wines,” she recalls.

She now farms the original half-hectare planted by her father over 50 years ago using an ancient Albariño clone that produces small, concentrated berries. She supplements this with rented vineyards and grapes that she purchases from local winegrowers. Intense tourist pressure in this part of Salnés has resulted in vineyards being lost, but Helena is determined to preserve and bottle this small part of Galicia.

We met her at the Off the Record tasting in Barcelona, where her partner Pedro Méndez was presenting his wines (they both appear in the photo below). Méndez, based in Meaño (Pontevedra) also works outside the DO, making  Albariño and red wines from recovered varieties and runs the family's furancho, a popular tapas bar called A Casa Pequena. Helena's Albariño was discreetly tucked beneath the table, but available for anyone interested in trying it.

Quinta de Seixalvo is the flagship white in her project and a true mission statement: an Albariño aged on its lees in stainless steel tanks for 18 months. The current release is 2022, a warm vintage on paper, yet here it shows poise, freshness, and distinctive saltiness. This lively, finely textured wine perfectly captures the personality of an Atlantic Albariño , and the added complexity achieved through lees and bottle ageing.

We haven’t had the chance to taste two further cuvées that are made in very limited quantities. One is an oak-aged Albariño from her father’s original vineyard (€24). The other, Félix De La Calle, is a multi-vintage blend which reflects a desire to explore and experiment with new ideas. It was also the perfect tribute to Helena's father following his death in 2024. This initial release is a blend of the tense 2021 vintage, the warmer, rounder 2022, and the balanced, classic 2023. Fewer than 1,000 bottles were produced, retailing at around €28, with future releases planned. Although Helena initially intended to work within the appellation, she now believes that wines like this give her greater freedom to explore the variety and the terroir.

Helena will present her wines at the second edition of Galicia Wine Taste on 23 March in Santiago de Compostela —this time she will have her own table.  

7,000 bottles
12.5% abv
€20 
Score: 92