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How Do You Albariño?
Quick – name the most popular Spanish white wine (and grape). Yes, Verdejo, Viura (Macabeo), Godello are all good candidates, but the crown unquestionably belongs to Albariño, the white grape predominantly grown in Rias Baixas in Galicia, in the Nothern Spain.
As it often happens with grapes, nobody can tell for sure where Albariño originated. The leading theory is that the Albariño grape was cultivated in the Rias Baixas area for a few thousands of years. But again, similar to many stories we hear today, things got real with Albariño once the growing zone was designated by the Spanish law in 1980. While initially it was an area designated to the Albariño grape itself, once the EU rules got into the play, the same area became known as Rias Baixas DO (Denominación de Origen), and this is where the absolute majority of Spanish Albariño wine is produced.
In most of the cases, Rias Baixas Albariño is unoaked wine (there are few producers, such as La Cana, who make oaked versions, but this is rare). I don’t like generalizing about the taste of the wines from the specific region, but to me, most of the Albariño wines have a core of salinity and Meyers Lemon. If you think about the location of Rias Baixas, right on the coast of Atlantic Ocean, it makes perfect sense that the most prominent wine from the region perfectly compliments the seafood dishes which one would expect to find in the coastal region. Albariño is easy to drink, works perfectly with and without the food, and it is typically priced under $20, which makes it an excellent white wine choice overall.
It is also worth noting that slowly, but surely, Albariño wines are fine-tuning their identity. What started about 40 years ago as one single region, Rias Baixas, now comprise 5 sub-regions – Ribeira do Ulla, Val do Salnés, Soutomaior, Condado do Tea, and O Rosal. You can’t always find the sub-regions listed on the labels yet, but I’m sure this is just a matter of time.
Make no mistake – the appeal of Albariño is not lost on the rest of the world. Today you can find excellent Albariño wines produced in California (Lodi makes some amazing renditions, such as Bokisch), Oregon, and Washington – and then Texas, lest not forget about Texas. Australia is also churning out some outstanding versions of Spanish classic (don’t think those wines can be found in the USA, though).
Beginning of August saw a slew of events celebrating Albariño – International Albariño Days took place from August 1 through 5; during the same days, Albariño was celebrated at The Albariño Festival, which is the second oldest wine Festival in Spain, taking place in the city of Cambados in Rías Baixas and attracting more than 100,000 visitors.
It is important to remember that Albariño is not just for summer – it is a versatile white wine, capable to elevate any evening, with or without a seafood dinner in tow. For the past two years, I attended virtual tastings on Snooth, each including a good selection of Albariño from the different sub-regions in Rias Baixas – here you can find the detailed descriptions of the 2017 and 2018 tastings. This year, I was offered an opportunity to try a couple of samples – here are my notes:
2018 Nora Albariño Rias Baixas DO (13% ABV, $18)
Very light golden
A hint of tropical fruit, white flowers, a touch of pineapple, medium-plus intensity, inviting
Clean, fresh, minerally forward, green apples, lemon, round, perfectly balanced.
8, perfectly refreshing for a hot summer day.
2018 Señoro de Rubiós Robaliño Albariño Rias Baixas DO (12.5% ABV, $18)
Light golden
Restrained, minerality, salinity, underripe green apple
Bright, fresh, touch of white plum and lemon, zipping acidity
8-, refreshing, but craves food (oysters!)
What do you think of Albariño? What is your go-to white wine, especially when it is hot outside? Cheers!
WBC17: Speed Tasting, White and Rosé
Here we go again – living through the madness of the Wine Bloggers Conference – this is where wine geeks get together, taste incredible amounts of wine (thank you, liver, I hope you can forgive me again), talk about the wine all day (and good portion of the night) long, but above all, share their common passion – the wine.
This is my third conference, and speed tasting is definitely one of my favorite exercises. During an hour-long session, wineries from all over the world line up to present their wines to the bloggers. Each winery gets 5 minutes to present their wine – which includes pouring, talking and answering questions. Bloggers sit in groups of 10 at the tables and each group gets the same 5 minutes to taste the wine, ask questions, take pictures, and share the wines on the social media. Yes, it is very intense.
This is definitely a fun session (fun is not universal here – I know a number of very well respected bloggers who refuse to participate in the speed tasting) – however, it should be well understood that this is really “shoot from the hip” type of tasting – 5 minutes is absolutely not enough to truly understand the wine, and you get the wine in whatever state it is (you can’t let it open in the glass, nope). However, this is how the wines are evaluated at any large trade tasting, sans the social media sharing, so this is all about your first reaction – that’s what is going into your quick notes.
Our session at WBC17 included wines mostly from California, with the addition of some international wines. While the session was called “white and Rosé”, we didn’t get to taste any Rosé – but keep in mind that we only were able to taste 10 out of more than 25 wines. I shared all of my impressions and pictures on twitter – however while working on this post I realized that I forgot to include 2 pictures, and all of my tweets went out as replies. Yeah, live and learn.
Nevertheless, here is the blog report of the same, with the addition of missing pictures:
Wine #1: 2016 Ledson Winery Viognier Sonoma Coast (13.5% ABV, $32) – I always approach Viognier with trepidation – this is one of the grapes which are easy to screw up. To my delight, this was very well done wine – nose, palate – very enjoyable. Reasonable value at $32.
Wine #2: Naked Wines Naked Cowboy Sauvignon Blanc (13% ABV, $32) – the wine states appellation America on the front label, however, all the grapes come from the vineyards in Washington. This is a good wine – I’m not sold on QPR, though…
Wine #3: 2015 Matthiasson Winery White Blend Napa Valley (12.9% ABV, $40) – a blend of 4 grapes, mostly Italian varietals.
Wine #4: Jardesca White Aperitiva California (17% ABV, $30) – this is fortified wine with the addition of fruit – just add ice, and you can start entertaining. Love the label.
Wine #5: 2010 Gloria Ferrer Anniversary Cuvée Carneros (12.5% ABV, $40) – love Gloria Ferrer wines. This was big and voluptuous sparkler, slightly bigger than a typical Brut.
Wine #6: 2016 Selva Capuzzo Turbiana Lugana ($18) – not bad, and the least expensive wine in the tasting.
Wine #7: 2015 Mt. Beautiful Chardonnay New Zealand (14.5% ABV, $22) – this was a very good rendition of Chardonnay and an excellent price for the New Zealand Chardonnay overall.
Wine #8: 2015 Antinori Estates Antica Chardonnay Napa Valley (14.5% ABV, $55) – interesting wine. QPR didn’t work for me…
Wine #9: 2016 Hanna Winery Sauvignon Blanc Russian River Valley (13.2% ABV, $19) – Hanna is one of my favorite producers, and this Sauvignon Blanc was delicious. Was super-excited to find a classic cat pee on the nose…
Wine #10: 2014 Leto Cellars Chardonnay Napa Valley (14% ABV, $30) – this wine was an enigma. We tasted multiple bottles and still couldn’t figure it out. Oh well, this was the last one anyway.
This completes my first WBC17 speed tasting report. Red wines will be next! Cheers!
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