Galician red wines: 20 top picks worth seeking out

Galicia is famous for its white wines: pure, elegant, lees-aged, unoaked or only lightly so. The leader of the charge has been the Rías Baixas DO – and its Albariño grape in particular – followed by Ribeiro, and the Godellos of Valdeorras. Producers from Rioja and Ribera del Duero looking for a white companion to their reds find Galicia a happy hunting ground.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 20 top Galician red wines

Albariño still accounts for 96% of Rías Baixas’ output. In Valdeorras, red Mencía is now almost neck and neck with Godello in production terms. It’s in Ribeira Sacra that red dominates. Galicia always had red vines.

However, they had been widely ignored in the recent stampede to feed the world’s appetite for the region’s whites. Fortunately, things are changing.

There’s a glorious portfolio of reds to discover. What unites them is a very distinct Atlantic acidity.

It won’t be to everyone’s taste. But if you enjoy the wines of the Loire, or crunchy northern Italian reds, or fine Greek Xinomavro, then take a look. Expertise in managing the vineyards is developing rapidly. As we learn to live with increasingly hot summers, these crisply refreshing reds with their lower alcohols are a treat.

Above all, they are originals. Here’s a chance to try Espadeiro, Caíño Tinto, Caíño Longo and Merenzao. The latter, also known in the Iberian peninsula as María Ordoña and Bastardo, is one variety that has travelled – as Jura’s Trousseau.

Many of the wines are pale in colour, but that does not mean they are lacking in flavour. Far from it, in fact. What’s more, the joy of these reds is that they are not masked by new oak. Clearly, that’s partly for financial reasons [time spent in oak barrels increases production costs]. But it’s also explained by producers not wanting to interfere with the subtlety of the wines.

Simply reds

With this top 20 selection of wines, I looked to represent every DO, producers who prefer not to belong to a DO, and a range of key people. Where to begin the tasting journey? Roberto Durán, twice voted Spain’s top sommelier – and senior sommelier at London’s 67 Pall Mall wine club – is in no doubt: Monterrei.

This is Galicia’s most southerly DO, the least known and least highly rated. Red wines count for less than half of production, but the best are exceptional. Mencía dominates (more than 80%). Other red varieties recognised include Merenzao, Araúxa (Tempranillo), Caíño Tinto and Sousón (the Vinhão of Portugal, just over the border).

To start, let’s consider José Luis Mateo at Quinta da Muradella. Here, as elsewhere among Galicia’s reds, the wines are as much about the people who make them as about the grape or the soil. Mateo’s wines are an ideal introduction.

Moving north, the precipitous vineyards of Ribeira Sacra, the essence of heroic viticulture, shelter a wide range of varieties, including Brancellao, Caíños Longo and Bravo, Mouratón, Tempranillo, Gran Negro and Garnacha. ‘Garnacha’ in this region may also mean Garnacha Tintorera or Alicante Bouschet, traditionally prized as a ‘teinturier’ for the way it lends deep colour to wines.

Ribeira Sacra is the only DO in Galicia where red prevails (more than three-quarters of production). Viticulture has improved greatly in the last 20 years. So too has packaging – a sign that producers now have an eye to export.

A century of phylloxera, depression, civil war and dictatorship took its toll across Spain, and revival was slow. In Ribeira Sacra, Fernando Algueira was one of the pioneers recuperating the steep terraces and ancient varieties. His son Fabio has now joined the business, and their single varieties are a good place to start exploring the potential of the region.

The most continental of the Galician DOs is Valdeorras. Though renowned for its Godello, the proportion of reds (and particularly Mencía) is catching up. In Ribeiro, reds form about 15% of the output, which is why it’s so exciting to have a new red in this tasting from the master of whites: Emilio Rojo. In Rías Baixas, meanwhile, whites didn’t always prevail. Eulogio Pomares and Rodri Méndez are among those leading the revival.

Hovering over a number of these elegant wines in Galicia is the benign influence of Raúl Pérez (from Bierzo by birth), who has guided them in the search for individuality. Many of these are gastronomic wines – when matched with food, their crispness cuts through cheffy richness. However, the restaurant closures of the past 18 months due to Covid-19 have affected availability of these wines, and that’s why many of the suppliers listed are importers.

Some specialist restaurants are importing wine directly, notably Ultracomida and L’Oculto. I have my eye on the latter’s adorably named Enthusiasmus: ‘A blend of Sousón, Caíño, Garnacha, Brancellao, Pedralonga, Espadeiro. Fermented together in chestnut barrels, then aged in Galician oak barrels. Must serve chilled.’

Not for everyone, perhaps. But for an enthusiast like me? I can’t wait.

Discover Galician red wines: Sarah Jane Evans MW’s top 20

You may also like

Galicia: Beyond Albariño

High Street Spain: great choices under £20