Understand the grape
Getting to know the grape
Most Albariño smells of citrus and stone fruit: grapefruit, lemon peel, peach and apricot, sometimes with a floral note. In the mouth it is usually dry and bright, with acidity that makes it taste fresh and a faint saltiness that many people link to the Atlantic coast. Alcohol is moderate and the body is lighter than a Chardonnay. Most wines are made in stainless steel and drunk young. Some producers leave the wine on its lees, the dead yeast cells that settle after fermentation, to add texture, and a few make sparkling or barrel-aged versions.
In Spain the label usually carries a place, Rías Baixas, with Albariño as the grape. A plain Rías Baixas Albariño is made from the grape alone, and the region is divided into five subzones: Val do Salnés, O Rosal, Condado do Tea, Ribeira do Ulla and Soutomaior. In Portugal the grape is Alvarinho, and the best-known wines come from Monção e Melgaço, the northernmost corner of the Vinho Verde region, beside the Minho river and the Spanish border. Vinho Verde means young wine, not green wine, and most of the region's whites are made from other grapes.
Where Albariño changes
Grape to place
Compare how the grape grows and tastes in these places. Each guide explains the local wines; the Atlas shows where they come from.
Rías Baixas
The home of Albariño. The denomination covers 4,321 hectares farmed by about 5,000 growers on very small plots, and Albariño is by far the most important grape. The Atlantic climate is cool and wet, so vines are traditionally trained on pergolas.
Green Spain
The wider north-west coast. Albariño leads in Rías Baixas, while neighbouring Galician areas make wines from Godello, Treixadura and Mencía. Reading the region as a whole shows which grape belongs to which valley.
Vinho Verde
In the Monção e Melgaço sub-region, Alvarinho is the main grape. A mountain barrier shelters the area, so summers are warmer and winters colder than elsewhere in Vinho Verde. Wines here are often fuller than the region's light whites and can age.
Sierras del Uruguay
Albariño has found a home in Uruguay too. Producers in the hills near the Atlantic coast make it beside Tannat, which gives you a New World comparison for the Galician original.
What changes the result
Vineyard and cellar
The ripeness of the grapes, contact with their skins, and time in tanks or barrels all help shape the wine. Here is what to look for.
Pergola training
Many Galician vineyards use the emparrado, a pergola of granite posts with the vines trained overhead. Air moves beneath the canopy, which helps the grapes dry after rain, and growers can use the ground below for vegetables. Newer plantings are often trained on wires, so the system is traditional, not universal.
Stainless steel
Most Albariño is fermented cool in stainless steel and bottled within months. This keeps citrus and peach aromas bright and avoids oak flavours. If you want to understand the grape itself, a stainless steel wine is the clearest place to begin.
Lees ageing
Some producers leave the wine on its fine lees for months and may stir them, which adds weight and a creamy texture without adding oak flavour. On a Spanish label the phrase sobre lías means on the lees. Wines made this way are usually a little rounder and keep better for a few years.
Oak, concrete and sparkling
A smaller number of producers ferment or age Albariño in oak barrels or concrete eggs, or make it into traditional-method sparkling wine. These styles show another side of the grape, but they are exceptions, so check the producer's description before buying.
Read the label
On the bottle
A label may name the place instead of the grape. These names and terms help you work out what is in the bottle.
- Rías Baixas Albariño
- The standard name for the wine. Rías Baixas is the place; Albariño is the grape. A bottle carrying both names is made entirely from Albariño.
- Subzone names
- Val do Salnés, O Rosal, Condado do Tea, Ribeira do Ulla and Soutomaior are areas inside Rías Baixas. A subzone name can add other local white grapes to the blend, so check the back label if you want pure Albariño.
- Alvarinho
- The Portuguese spelling of the same grape. On a Vinho Verde label it may appear with Monção e Melgaço, the sub-region where it is most important.
- Sobre lías
- Spanish for on the lees. It tells you the wine spent time resting on its fine yeast sediment, which usually adds texture.
At the table and in the cellar
Practical use
Serve
Serve Albariño well chilled, around 7 to 9°C, in an ordinary white wine glass. Take a bottle with more texture, such as a lees-aged wine, out of the fridge a few minutes before pouring so the aromas open up.
Eat
Shellfish is the classic match: mussels, clams, grilled prawns, razor clams and octopus. Albariño also suits white fish, fish tacos, sushi, goat's cheese and salads with lemon. Its acidity cuts through oil, so it works with fried fish and croquetas. Avoid heavy cream sauces, which can overpower it.
Keep
Most Albariño is meant to be drunk within one to three years, while the citrus is fresh. Wines left on their lees, and Alvarinho from Monção e Melgaço, can improve for longer, and the Vinho Verde commission says some Alvarinho keeps developing for more than twenty years. For everyday bottles, buy the latest vintage.
Taste it in three steps
Three bottles
You can try these bottles on separate occasions. Keep a note of the name, vintage and what you notice, then use the steps below to decide what to compare.
- 01
Taste Rías Baixas Albariño
Start with a young Rías Baixas Albariño in stainless steel. Look for grapefruit, peach and lemon zest, and notice the sharp acidity and the faint saltiness on the finish.
- 02
Cross the border for Alvarinho
Taste an Alvarinho from Monção e Melgaço beside it. Compare the weight, the ripeness of the fruit and the alcohol. The grape is the same, but the warmer, more sheltered setting changes the style.
- 03
Try a lees-aged bottle
Finish with a wine labelled sobre lías, or one from a producer who stirs the lees. Notice how the texture becomes rounder while the acidity stays high.