Albariño & Mencía – Spanish Delights

Many of you know of my deep fascination and love of Spanish wines. Of late I have become especially excited by the wines of Galicia, which is a place that appeals to me immensely. Sadly I have yet to visit but I intend to put that right soon, as it looks so beautiful and very different from the rest of Spain.

The region has a cool, rainy, Atlantic influenced climate and as a consequence is known as Green Spain. It produces every style of wine, but is renowned for its dry whites and,  although the region uses many different varieties, Albariño is their most famous and is the grape that has really brought this region to the attention of discerning wine drinkers.

To the South Galicia borders Portugal’s Minho / Vinho Verde region and the two places are not dissimilar in that they are wet and cool, so wine producers have to be very clever indeed to beat nature. Historically that has been a problem in both places, but over the last thirty years or so viticulture has improved almost beyond recognition – as has wine making – and it really shows in the wines.

No longer a land of subsistence farmers making a little wine for themselves and their friends, where quality barely mattered and wasn’t questioned – Galicia has become a region of confident, ambitious, thoughtful grape growers and wine makers whose wines are highly sought after and can command a very high price. This is especially true in Spain itself where Galician whites are considered to be amongst the country’s finest. They certainly tend to be the Spanish white wines that have the most purity and minerality and as such are quite superb with a bit of fish.

Map of the Wine Regions of North West Spain including Galica – click for a larger view – non watermarked PDF versions are available by agreement

Exciting drinkable and affordable wines

It has been quite a couple of weeks for finding new and exciting wines and I find that is what makes wine really interesting. It might seem strange to some people, but to me wine is only partly a drink, it is also a constant voyage of discovery into places, people, culture and traditions – as well as seeking out delicious flavours.

Most of the time that does not mean that the wines are weird, whacky or odd in any way, just that they are slightly off the beaten track, made in places and from grapes that are a little less well known than they ought to be. It is for those very reasons they often reward trying as they can frequently offer better value than more well known wines, as well as an enormous amount of pleasure.

I have written before about how the majority of consumers seem to only drink wines from a very narrow range of wine styles and grape varieties, which is a real shame when there is so much good wine out there that often passes people by.

Spain’s Wild Frontier

 

Fermoselle with the river gorge just visible to the right

I have visited Fermoselle in Arribes del Duero and it is a small, tranquil place right on the edge of Spain – go any further west and you will find yourself splashing in the Duero/Douro river and then in Portugal.

 

Map of Spain’s wine regions, DO Arribes is where the Duero/Douro River forms the border with Portugal – click for a larger view

I was astonished that this area can boast two wineries that are run by English women, even more strangely it seems that they are both here entirely by coincidence.

Grandes Pagos de España

Strange as it may seem at first thought, and contrary to the general run of European wine traditions, very few Spanish wines are true estate wines.

In Rioja for instance the first proper estate was not created until the 1970s – with the arrival of the great Contino.

Elsewhere you have Vega-Sicilia of course, but it has been much more normal in Spain to blend the grapes from different vineyards together and to create a brand – more akin to the negociant concept than that of the domaine.

Of course that has changed a little over the years as the focus has turned more and more to quality rather than quantity. The winemaker generally has greater control over the quality of the fruit, what grows where and how it is treated, if the wine is an estate rather than a brand – or so the theory goes.

One man who passionately believes in the estate concept is Carlos Falcó Marqués de Griñón, whose Dominio de Valdepusa produces magnificent wines near Toldeo, in Spain. Carlos by his example and his passion has been able to help drive up the quality of Spanish wines in recent decades and is a prime mover in the development of the excellent wines coming out of Spain today – he really can be thought of as something of a Spanish Robert Mondavi.

Godello gracious me…

On my recent trip to Spain, I was constantly on the look out for great white wines. Spanish whites have become so good, so interesting and at their best, so delicious that I enjoy trying them. Added to that, they suit the summer temperatures more than red wines and partner pretty much all Spanish food better, in my opinion anyway.

This summer I was fortunate enough to stumble across this wine from the wine region of Valdeorras that is just to the west of Castilla y León’s Bierzo region. It is actually in Galicia, the cool Atlantic influenced part of the country that is often known as ‘Green Spain’. Valdeorras is the most inland of the wine regions of Galicia and therefore has the least coastal influence allowing it to produce wines with great ripeness. It is a small region, boasting only a handful of producers, but quality can be very good indeed:

Louro do Bolo Godello Lias Finas 2008
Bodegas Rafael Palacios, D.O. Valdeorras

The colour is pale while the aroma is fresh, floral and zesty with wafts of green apples and wild herbs as well as a delicate leesy smokiness making it very appetising and attractive.

The palate is rounded, full flavoured and unusually concentrated which makes it deliciously drinkable with the richness balancing the acidity and giving a creamy mouth feel to the wine. The creamy spiciness as a result of the lees ageing and ripeness is quite thrilling while the finish is very long with clean citrus notes and complex savoury herbal characters.

This is a great white wine, perfect with a grilled swordfish steak or seabass.

As soon as I can I will review Rafael’s top white, his As Sortes Godello – so watch this space.