Welcome to the first Vine and Spirits Report post of 2020. I hope that everyone had a pleasant and restful holiday season and are now ready to engage in a wine and spirits year that will introduce new products and old friends in new vintages. And, I hope that you are prepared for a year in which the intersection of wine/spirits and politics will intersect likely impacting availability and most certainly impacting prices. More on the tariff issue, and on the likely impact on wine production as a result of the Australian fires, in later posts.
This post is focused on Albariño. It might seem unusual that the first post of the year, while the weather is cool (even in the Charleston, SC area), would be on a white wine. Albariño, while fresh and crisp, with excellent acidity, and a touch of citrus, is excellent during the warmer months, it is also ideal anytime of the year as a starter and with seafood. I have recently enjoyed two different versions of the wine.
Albariño is a white grape usually associated with Galicia (northwest Spain) as well as in northwest Portugal. Some grape historians suggest that it may have been introduced to the region during the 12th or 13th centuries from France. The aromatic link to Riesling suggested that Albariño was possibly a Riesling clone, or a relatived of Petit Manseng. Petit Manseng can be found in southwestern France, and is traditionally vinified to produce late harvest dessert wine. However, more recent investigations suggest that Albariño is indigenous to the Rias Baixas.
Limited Albariño is produced beyond the Iberian Peninsula. You will find small production in both California (289 acres) and Oregon (the Oregon Wine Board recognized that the a a few acres of the grape was grown and vinified in 2018) . Australian winemakers, for more than a decade, were marketing wine labeled as Albariño. However, in 2008 when it was “confirmed that the grapes were French Savagnin”. The Australians had ordered cutting of Albariño but had mistakenly been shipped the Savagnin. Savagnin is generally found at the base of the Alps in eastern France. The green skinned grape is the basis of a sherry, and dessert wines.
The Albariño versions discussed in this post originate in the Rias Baixas. Located in the northwest Spain, along the sea, just north of Portugal, more than 99% of “all wine produced in Rias Baixas is white”. The Spanish wine authority permits 12 grape varieties to be grown in the region, but Albariño “represents 96% of all plantings”. The region is occasionally referred to as ‘Green Spain’, and the vineyards are cooled by the breeze of the nearby Atlantic Ocean.
The region’s winemakers’ hand-harvest grapes, lightly press, and macerate the juice, pulp, and skins to “increase the wine’s aromatic complexity and structure”. Many Rias Baixas winemakers are triggering fermentation with native yeasts. They recognize that the use of wild yeasts is a challenge, but “they believe the resulting aromas are a more authentic reflection of the characteristics of the Albariño grape and their terroir”.
Albariño very rarely aged in oak, but malolactic fermentation is commonly employed to reduce the tart tones and develop a product with softer (some would say ‘creamier’) mouth feel.
Friends and I had an opportunity to enjoy the 2017 Doelas Rias Baixas (Lagar de Costa) Albariño during a restaurant week dinner at Husk, one of Charleston’s finest establishments. It was offered at a reasonable price on a robust wine list and was an excellent choice following a delightful evening of music at the beautiful Circular Church.
More than a century old, Lagar de Costa continues to operate in the original winery building, but have embraced modern winemaking processes, and are devoted to sustainable farming. You can find the Lagar de Costa nationwide for just north of $22 retail.
A second Albariño, the 2017 Do Ferreiro, surfaced during a family luncheon, at a wonderful French bistro L’Albatros, near the campus of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
Available nationwide for just south of $20, Do Ferreiro is directed (since 1973) by Gerardo Mendez. He currently owns 10 hectares, one of which boosts vines more than a century old, and farms 175 plots in the Rias Baixas region of Salnes (on the Atlantic coast). The Do Albariño is blended from those 175 plots.
Both wines offer elements of lemon and lime, a touch of grapefruit, and a hint of wet stone on the nose. You will find excellent acidity and balance, and a delightful saltiness on the palate that extends through the finish.
Designed to drink young, Albariño can be aged for a few years. Serve cold but allow the wine to warm in the glass. The increase in temperature should add some minerality, and even some apple tones to the palate.
Albariño is excellent as a starter for any occasion and is a wonderful accompaniment to virtually any seafood (cold or warm).
Look one of these wines down or ask your favorite retailer for their Albariño recommendation.