Seven adventurous albarinos from around the world

It has been bitterly, record breaking-ly cold, for a few weeks, hasn’t it? Two-woollens weather during the day and the kind of evenings when only the most robust red wines will do to ward away the cold. And then, suddenly, this past week, it has been unaccountably mild, if a bit rainy, at least in the southern half of the UK. Not quite spring weather, but perhaps just a hint that, after a gruelling winter for all of us in different ways, spring cannot be that far off, certainly the clusters of snowdrops, crocuses and the few hellebores in the garden tell me that. And so perhaps the odd bottle of lighter white wine might be on the way soon... which brings me to albarino, the white grape that is pretty much native to the Rias Baixes area of Galicia, the green and wet region of northwest Spain, with long sea inlets cutting into the landscape.

The grape thrives in the moist, high-altitude, Atlantic-facing vineyards and produces light bodied, distinctive, aromatic wines with floral aromas, stone fruit and citrus character and a definite salinity, all while remaining very crisp and dry. Meant to be drunk fairly young, albarino is fabulous with all types of shellfish and white fish, and some of the slightly more aged wines can pair happily with goats cheeses, white meat dishes and lightly spiced oriental foods. A great alternative for sauvignon blanc lovers – while not quite having the mouth-puckering gooseberry quality of some sauvignons – it can also make great sparkling wines and is known as alvarinho in northern Portgual, where it is used to made vinho verde, the very light, “green”, spritzy wine – but that’s for another column.

Good value, typical albarino is not difficult to find. Newcomers to the grape should try the award-winning, great value Paco & Lola Albarino (£10.00 tesco.com; £11.00 sainsburys.co.uk), from the region’s biggest cooperative of winegrowers, which has a fun label and a vibrant personality to match: crisp and fresh on the palate, with lovely stone fruit flavours, and bone dry; a terrific little aperitif wine. Taking the quality up a notch, the Pazos de Lusco Albarino 2019 (£13.19 thedrinkshop.com;£15.49 ocado.com) is equally vibrant and sparky, but a little more full and rounded on the palate from natural fermentation and some lees ageing; there are attractive green herbal notes in there as well. One for a plate of clams and chorizo.

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Even more complex in its brilliant sea-blue bottle is a lovely wine I recommended last year, the Mar de Frades Albarino 2019 (£18.95 greatwine.co.uk; £19.50 noblegreenwines.co.uk). This has fabulous tropical fruits in the mix of minerality and acidity – a really special mouthful, ideal for serious grilled fish. But its winemaker Paula Fandiño has also pioneered the development of sparkling albarino, which she believes has the potential to top cava as Spain’s top sparkler; see for yourself with Mar de Frades Brut Nature Albarino (£23.99 simplywinesdirect.uk; £26.00 noblegreenwines.co.uk), the first sparkler to be made with 100 per cent albarino using the traditional champagne method: lovely lemon, lime and some floral flavours, very dry and crisp on the finish. Lovely as an aperitif or with any kind of fish. And yes, a definite challenge to cava. 

So where else in the world can we find albarino? As with sauvignon, albarino thrives in New Zealand, which adds just a few more New World influences: the Left Field Gisborne Albarino 2019 (£10.79 waitrosecellar.com; £12.95 oldbridgewine.co.uk) from the North Island, has pronounced melon and stone fruit flavours, together with a bracing freshness. On the other side of the Atlantic from Spain, in Uruguay, the difference from Galician albarino is even more pronounced in the Bodega Garzon Reserva Albarino 2019 (£16.99 haywines.co.uk;£19.95 slurp.co.uk), from an award-winning winery and which is full bodied, rich and creamy, but still with that thread of mineral freshness running through.

Finally, a wine that totally reinvents albarino: a few weeks ago I wrote about some of the more cutting-edge winemakers in California, including Evan Frazier who draws his influence from Spain and makes classy, organic, low-intervention wines, which included a fabulous garnacha blanca and the Ferdinand Albarino 2018 (£24.95 vincognito.co.uk; £28.50 nekterwines.com), which transforms the normally light and breezy albarino into something much more weighty and substantial, with complex flavours of quince, nuts and baking spices added to the citrus and stone fruits. A fabulous special occasion white to pair with, say, a baked turbot or seabass. And a long, long way, in both senses, from northwest Spain.