Spain's Ultimate White: Albariño

I'm kind of in love with Spain. I've been there a few times and it's a fascinating place but what I'm obsessed with right now is the wine (obviously). I'm not alone in this -- Spain is super popular right now -- and I'm thrilled that we're all on the bandwagon of this country that was on the sidelines of wine for so long while it's neighbor to the east (that's France) got all the glory.

Through the many centuries of winemaking in the Iberian Peninsula, the two regions that have gotten major props have been Rioja and Jerez (Sherry region). That doesn't mean that the rest of the country hasn't made wine, just that they didn't have the marketing to get it out there.

One of the most interesting areas that was basically isolated from the rest of Spain is the Galicia (Gah-LEE-thee-ah) region. The area functions autonomously, even though it's part of Spain. It has its own Galician language and culture, which has a strong Celtic influence because a tribe from the British Isles settled here in the pre-Roman era. (When I say Celtic I'm not talking about the Boston basketball team, but the culture represented by four-leaf clovers and leprechauns (this characterization is not offensive at all, right? Sorry Irish friends, I couldn't help myself)). The best connection the region has to the rest of Spain is that it contains the famous pilgrimage site of Santiago de Compostela, to which people from all over Europe have trekked to pay homage to the relics of St. James (James =Santiago in Spanish).

The isolation of Galicia has meant that it's seen some rough times. Lack of any profitable industry has led people either to move to bigger cities, stay and be poor, or leverage their coastal location to get involved in cocaine trafficking (true story). Their best asset, some would argue, is a little white wine called Albariño.

Albariño, also known as Alvarinho in Portugal, yields delicate, aromatic whites that are high in alcohol, high in acidity, and have a ton of flavor. They are sometimes a little salty and always a great match with seafood.

Most of the producers in the Rias Baixas area (ree-ahsh by-shush, which means"low Atlantic inlets") are small guys who don't engage in bulk farming or harvesting. They grow grapes the old school way -- by tending to the vineyards and vines with lots of TLC and not a lot of expensive chemicals. Most of the vines are trained to grow on pergolas off the ground both so the Albariño can be ventilated and protected from the sea mists, since much of the vineyard land is adjacent to the sea. It has the added benefit of allowing the poorer farmer to slip in another crop below the grapes and make some money off of both. Ingenius, and a good use of space to boot.

After years of toil and hardship, finally these farmers are getting their just desserts. Looking for the next big thing, bigger wine companies from all over the world recently re-discovered Albariño and invested to modernize wineries so they can import this amazing wine that tastes like a Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc mated. From obscurity to wine lists and shelves all over the darn place, Albariño is in fashion. The Galicians who stuck it out and stayed in the area are now profiting from their little known wine secret and I think it's awesome...as awesome as the wine.

Martín Códax , in Rias Baixas is one of the co-ops of growers that is making it work. Started in 1986, it's a great little wine that's imported by the E&J Gallo Winery, who, despite it's monstrous size and tendency to homogenize all wines they import, make, or acquire, hasn't messed with the Códax too bad (although I think the initial vintages in 2006 & 2007 had more acidity, the wine is still great). Unlike some of the other producers out there, they haven't been experimenting with putting the wine in oak, which I think kills all the delicate aromas and great acidity that are inherent in the grape and the traditional styles of wine made from it.

This is a great wine and very widely available. Here's the deal:

The Wine: Martin Codax Albariño
The Grape: 100% Albariño
Where it's from: Rias Baixas, Spain
Alcohol: 13%
Vintage: 2009
Price: $15.99

Color: Golden and remarkably, brilliantly shiny and bright. The wine glistens like gold. And it has just a little bit of spritzy bubbles too. It looks so fresh!

Smell: The first things that came to mind -- Rose's lime juice, the ultimate Margarita mixer! The wine smelled like salt and minerals and it had a light smokiness too. Delicious and made my mouth water (although I think it may have been watering because it made me want a Margarita).

Taste: My first impression was lime Fruit Stripe Gum (if you're unfamiliar, it's a gum that was popular in the 80s that has a sugary, very strong flavor for exactly 17 seconds, at which point it needed to be thrown out immediately and replaced with a new piece) -- a little citrus-y, a little sweet. Then that Margarita mix character came -- lime with a little bit of briny salt. The wine tasted like minerals, had awesome mouthwatering acid, and just a little twang of a vanilla bean. It was a little creamy too, which was unexpected since Albariño usually doesn't go through malo-lactic fermentation, which is what makes wines creamy.

Pairing: No brainer. Any light fish, shellfish, or seafood. This wine isn't nicknamed "the wine of the sea" for nothing. Go with it. If you don't eat fish, go for pasta primavera in oil, salad with goat or feta cheese, spanakopita, or paella.

Drink or Down the Sink?: Drink. It's a great wine and terrific with food. My only objection is that it was better a few years ago. I liked the acidity, but the wine feels a little creamier and less distinctive and delicate than I remember it being when I last had it. Still, it's worth the money and is a great widely available Albariño Go for it.