Our story...
1960s
Madrid & a Motorcycle
Growing up in post-war Madrid, Jose-Manuel can remember sitting in the sidecar of his father’s motorcycle making the day-long trip from Madrid to Zaragoza to visit his grandfather and to purchase wine from local wineries. This was the seed that started a lifelong passion.
Jose-Manuel and his son, Igor, made their own such pilgrimages, spending months in Spain meeting with producers, tasting their creations, and curating the most complete Spanish wine list possible.
They founded Albae Wine Club to share these wines with you.
The Club
Buen Vino For All
What we know is Spain, and its wine, so we decided to focus our efforts on offering a complete selection from across the country spanning all regions and wine styles.
With a closely knit network of artisanal winemakers, Albae offers an exceptional collection of wines that can't be found elsewhere in Canada as well as the opportunity to participate in special events, gourmet dinners, group wine projects, and travel to meet the winemakers.
Selection
Wines With A Story
With the help of our team of enologists and sommeliers in Spain, we personally source, taste, and select every wine in Albae's collection.
Our guiding principles are simple; find the best wines made with care, love, passion, and with a deep respect for the land they come from.
We believe the best wines are those that tell a story and represent the people and places they come from.
Photo: Luis Miguel Fernández, partner and renowned sommelier, leading a tasting of his wines at Vila Viniteca in Barcelona.
Rebirth
A Spanish Wine Revolution
Spain has an immensely rich variety of wine built on a strong wine-making culture that dates back five thousand years. Recently, their has been a shift, large industrial operations are giving way to more traditional hands-on approaches.
Ancient indigenous grape varieties (over 500), some on the brink of extinction, have been revived by a new generation of winemakers. The re-adoption of low-intervention methods and a better understanding of land ecology, aided by savvy oenologists, has led to a new wave of wines that beautifully express their unique terroirs.
Sustainability
Nurturing Biomes
Sustainability is very important at all points in the lifecycle of wine. The winemakers we work with employ an array of sustainable practices (low-intervention methods, biodynamic farming, organic farming) with the ultimate goal of producing the best quality wine while preserving the local ecosystem.
We actively collaborate to improve in important areas such as packaging, reducing weight of glass bottles, and developing closed-loop systems.
What does Albae mean?
Albae comes from the root word Alba which in Spanish means sunrise or dawn and represents rebirth; the start of a new day. Wine is truly a gift from nature as is the rising sun which blankets the vineyards of Spain everyday. For this reason, we chose the Latin feminine form of Alba(e) as an ode to Mother Nature and a tip of the hat to the Romans who helped proliferate wine through the Iberian peninsula between the 2nd century BCE – 5th century CE.