The Albariño of Spain’s Rías Baixas was once a wine to drink young, but now it will last for a decade. What changed, asks Margaret Rand?
5 great buys from Rías Baixas
Bodegas Zarate, El Palomar Albariño 2012
18.5/20pts (95/100pts)
Named after the dovecote in the vineyard, this was almost overbearing in its early youth but is settling down now. It’s fermented in a big old vat but there’s no oak flavour. Lots of structure and concentration. A searching wine, precise and detailed, with complexity.
Price: £23.10 Indigo Wines
Drink 2014-2020
Alc 12.5%
Terras Gauda, La Mar Caíño Blanco 2011
18.5/20pts (95/100pts)
No, not Albariño this one; instead one of the region’s rarer grape varieties. This is concentrated and muscular, with a touch of tannin, and huge character. A big, tight, salty, mineral wine.
Price: £27-£30 Harvey Nichols, Joseph Barnes, Les Caves de Pyrène
Drink 2014-2020
Alc 12.7%
Bodegas del Palacio de Fefiñanes, Albariño 2013
17.5/20pts (91/100pts)
Good ripe citrus fruit and no creaminess from malolactic. Pure, precise, nice weight, lovely elastic texture, salty, aromatic fruit, and plenty of character. Very expressive and graceful.
Price: £14.95-£17.99 Lupe Pinto, Martinez Fine Wines, The Wine Society, Waitrose
Drink 2014-2019
Alc 12.5%
Condes de Albarei, Albariño 2012
17.5/20pts (91/100pts)
Very salty and tight, lovely texture, very fine and elegant with good structure; pure, long, with a typical bitter edge to the finish which adds bite.
Price: £11.95 The Wine Reserve
Drink 2014-2018
Alc 12.5%
Coto Redondo, Señorio de Rubios Albariño 2012
17/20pts (90/100pts)
Salty and mineral nose and palate with very pure, ripe and aromatic fruit. Lovely balance and texture, and again, that nice bitter bite at the end.
Price: £10.75 Yorkshire Vintners
Drink 2014-2018
Alc 12.5%
