A
lbariño is a grape that excites winemakers in many parts of the world these days. But the
benchmark is invariably Rías Baixas, where the variety has found its natural home.
Indeed Albariño is as synonymous with
this beautiful and windswept part of
what’s often called Green Spain, just north of the Minho river that creates a natural
border with Portugal, as Pinot Noir is with Burgundy or Riesling is with the Mosel. Talking of Riesling: “Pilgrims have
followed several caminos, or routes, to
of it sourced from spectacular Atlantic
seems to me there’s more of an accent on
Ulla in the north, just east of Padron (of
edge.”
estuaries.
There are five sub-regions: Ribeira do
pepper fame); the granitic heartland of
Val do Salnés, where 70% of the region’s patchwork of vineyards are located;
Soutomaior, the smallest of the five; the hot, dry and mountainous Condado do
Tea; and finally O Rosal, on the banks of
the Minho, where a seam of schist makes a guest appearance.
other things apart from their faith,” says
T
Baixas wines.
techniques in the vineyard and the winery
Santiago de Compostella from other parts
of Europe and some of them have brought wine writer Simon Woods, who hosted a
recent Wine Merchant online tasting of Rías
“A lot of these routes come from west and
central Europe and further north, straight
through these major wine regions. You get people who are starting out in Germany and around Burgundy.
“One theory I’ve heard for the name
of Albariño is ‘the white from the Rhine’
and I know sometimes Albariño can have Riesling-like connotations. But there’s
no DNA link – it’s just one of those nice stories.”
Albariño has made its mark in Rías
Baixas for a number of reasons. Its thick skin helps protect it from mildew in the
humid climate, though vignerons tend to
give it a helping hand by training it high on pergolas. The variety’s aromatic qualities,
and robust acidity, make it an ideal partner for the region’s world-class seafood, much
he Rías Baixas DO only came into effect in 1988, and there’s a real
sense that the region’s wines are
still evolving.
Producers are discovering new
that mean that any assumptions about
their wines, formed even as recently as five years ago, could easily be out of date.
Producers like Terras Gauda in the O
Rosal sub-region have even moved away from pergolas to more conventional
trellising. “I can say I get better ripening than with a pergola,” says winemaker Emilio Rodríguez Cannas. “With this
system we have to spray less than with a pergola system.” On the flip side, yields
with the trellising system are relatively low at 7,000kg per hectare. “Obviously it’s less productive,” he accepts.
On the winemaking front, Woods
believes that Rías Baixas has become rather more sophisticated.
“The first wines I remember were trying
to be a little bit too Viognier,” he recalls. “It
THE WINE MERCHANT august 2020 33
structure now, and finer fruit flavours, and not being afraid of that little bitter, pithy
Emilio Rodríguez Cannas does not think
there is one particular winemaking trend.
“It depends on the sub regions; it depends on the wineries; but there is not one
specific style at this moment,” he says. Cristina Mantilla, the oenologist at
Palacio de Fefiñanes in Salnés, says that a key decision for winemakers is whether or not to use malolactic fermentation to soften Albariño’s occasionally searing acidity.
“We began to work more with the lees,
and with oak and without oak,” she says. “Maybe 20 years ago French oak was
hiding the fruit and the flowers of the
white grapes. It was a mistake because
there were a lot of good wines that had a lot of wood and the variety disappeared.
“Wineries started to work with the lees
and it’s a very good way to promote ageing in the bottle as well as freshness.”
Emilio Rodríguez Cannas adds: “Many
people are stirring the wine with the lees now. It was something that was actually done many years ago.
“Most people are thinking about making
wines to age – and not necessarily due
to the contact with the oak. Without oak,
there are many people who wait two years
or three years after bottling and it’s a good way to improve the wines.
“It’s one style, though the main style is
for young wines – the wine of the year. But there are many different styles.”