I am quite down on Albariño lately.  It’s a grape I fell in love with over 8 years ago before I came to Spain.  One of my first wine trips when I came to live here was to Rias Baixas in Galicia, the homeland of Albariño.

But since then I have lost my passion for the grape…not that I don’t think it has tremendous potential, but rather that it rarely reaches that potential.  In general, the Albariños I’ve been trying over the past few years have left unmoved.  Albariño has a tremendously good reputation here in Spain…it is the one white wine that most Spaniards would recognize as premium.  For a Spanish white wine, it also has premium prices….between 10-20€ for unoaked versions.  Living in Spain I’ve come to expect a lot for a wine in this price range…and Albariño rarely delivers.  Many of them lack concentration and can be thin, weedy, acidic, and very short on the finish.  Many also have strong cider or apple notes that become aggressive when the wine heats up a bit.  Most of these Albariños must be served super cold to taste good. 

The excuse for the high prices is that Albariño is a difficult grape to grow…it can ripen unevenly…and that the rainy climate in Galicia is also challenging.  Very true, yet the permitted yields in Galicia are the highest in Spain.   The truth is that the yields are too high and that the necessary work in the vineyard is not being done.  A prestigious winery in Bierzo had recently acquired an existing winery in Rias Baixas when we visited and their technical director confessed to me that condition of the vineyards were the worst he had seen in his professional life.  He said they would have to spend a few years cleaning things up before they could improve the wine. 

The terroir is excellent and the grape has tremendous potential but there is a lot of work to be done.  There has been more focus on oak experiments and bottle aging the wine before release than improving the vineyards. 

Following are my review of three Albariños I find to be above the norm…all are very different types of wines.  Two of them, from the Viña Nora winery, have been rated by Peñin, Spain’s top wine critic, among the best.

1. Viña Nora 2007:  One of my favorites, this has more aromatic intensity than many Albariños.  A nice citric, floral and apple nose…in the mouth, very fresh acidity, but good apple and lemon aromas.  Nice medium length finish.  This is the most typical style of Albariño, but well done.  Very good value for Albariño at 10€. 

2. Nora de Neve 2006:  The oak Albariño from the same winery, Viña Nora.  I’m not a huge fan of oaked Albariño…the oak does little for the floral aromas of the grape variety.  But if you don’t focus too much on varietal elements, this is a great mouthful of wine. Smoky, citric nose, very attractive. The mouth is more impressive:  round, silky, very full, apple and lemon aromas and great acidity.  Super long attractive finish with smoky oak notes.  The oak is extremely well integrated, which often it is not in oaked Albariños.  Lovely wine, but not what I’m looking for in an Albariño necessarily.  Also pricy at over 20€. 

3.  Gran Bazán Ambar 2007:  This is my favorite Albariño of the moment…I bought a case of it for the Xmas season.  This is the winery’s top un-oaked wine and they only use free run juice.  They also leave it aging in stainless a few more months before release.  The care really shows in the wine.  The nose is quite mineral, also with peach and anis notes.  The body is much fuller than most un-oaked Albariños, very vinous, fresh acidity, citrus and melon aromas.  Attractive, intense mouth and quite long finish.  This wine is particularly good value for between 10 and 12€.  Funnily enough this is one of the Albariños I used to love in DC before I moved here…I’ve come full circle 7 years on.