Exploring Age-worthy Albariño from Rías Baixas
I first ever tasted an Albariño in a seafood restaurant. It was recommended by the sommelier because of its fresh acidity, characteristic saltiness and stony minerality, which made it the perfect partner for briny oysters and the sweet, juicy meat of grilled Mediterranean prawns. Since then, I’ve been hooked and it’s one of my favourite summer whites, offering excellent value for money as it’s usually drunk young, requiring no ageing.
HOWEVER, Albariño CAN age, as I discovered at a recent press tasting. Seven Rías Baixas winemakers introduced a selection of older Albariño wines and shared their thoughts on why Albariño can age just as well as the classic ageing white varieties.
The tell-tale minerality coming from the granite soils in Rías Baixas is a key factor in helping the wines to age, combined with pristine quality grapes (everything is carried out by hand in small vineyard plots) and lees treatment.
RIAS BAIXAS ALBARIÑO: THE WINES
RIAS BAIXAS PEDRANAI DE SANTIAGO ROMA ALBARIÑO 2019 (£50)
This wine was stored in amphora, which is porous and allows for some oxygen to enter the wine. This gives the wine a deep and rich texture without imparting any additional flavours.
The wine is remarkably fresh, with notes of lime and orange peel.
GRAN BAZÁN DON ÁLVARO DE BAZÁN 2018 (£25)
This is an intense wine, with lots of complexity from substantial lees ageing. Agro de Bazan don’t make this wine every year as it requires grapes that are in absolutely perfect health to go through a long cold soak before fermentation. It has the ideal balance of alcohol and acidity, with notes of ripe yellow fruit and papaya, alongside an acute salinity.
MARTÍN CÓDAX LIAS 2018 (£18.50)
Bâtonnage for between six to eight months, followed by bottle ageing, has given this wine a savoury complexity, making it fabulously foodie. Peppery, mineral and saline, with lots of concentrated fruit and a textured mouthfeel, represents the potential of Albariño and shows what this grape can do!
ALBARIÑO DE FEFIÑANES III AÑO 2017 (£40)
Grapes are fermented with natural yeasts and then aged on the lees for five to seven months. The wine has stayed chilled for almost 27 months and was finally bottled in 2020.
This wine has an intense floral nose, with notes of orange and quince. It has purity, freshness and salinity with an edge of maturity, which promises further ageing potential.
VEIGADARES 2017 (£20)
This expression of Albariño is restrained, herbal and grassy, with a bracing acidity coming from the Atlantic influence. No malolactic fermentation keeps this wine pure and lean.
PACO & LOLA VINTAGE 2015 (£19)
Full-bodied, rich in aroma with high acidity and salinity, this wine reminds me of a good tequila blanco - without the tequila. Something to do with the lime, orange, salt and alcohol.
PAZO SEÑORÁNS SELECCIÓN DE AÑADA 2010 (£40)
This 2010 vintage was bottled 2017/18, gaining an extra few years of bottle ageing. This wine shows the essence of the Albariño grape, and is a reflection of the soils, having been grown organically and harvested from one plot. For a wine over ten years of age, it’s ridiculously fresh, with great acidity, a marked minerality and notes of stone fruits (apricot), heading to tropical fruits (pineapple and banana).
For anyone in doubt of Albariño’s suitability for ageing, look in the direction of Rías Baixas. Producing both youthful wines of fruit and freshness and aged wines with complexity and texture, this is the place where Albariño is a double-edged sword .