The Indescribability of Albariño

August 10, 2018

The Indescribability of Albariño

Albariño (al-bar-EEN-yo) is the great white grape of Rías Baixas in the province of Galicia in northwestern Spain. Albariños are light, snappy, dry white wines with terrific crispness. They aren’t full-bodied like most chardonnays, they aren’t green like a lot of sauvignon blancs, and they aren’t as fruity as rieslings can be. Rather, albariños have their own clean, fresh character with just a hint of peaches or almonds. Because fishing is the major industry in Galicia, it comes as no surprise that albariños are made with seafood in mind. Throw some shrimp on the grill, open a bottle, and you’ll see just what we mean.

What wine region boasts the oldest cabernet sauvignon
vines in the world?

A. The Graves region of Bordeaux

B. The Ribera del Duero region of central Spain

C. The Barossa Valley of South Australia

D. The Livermore Valley, east of San Francisco

C.

Cabernet vines planted in 1888 in the Barossa Valley of Australia are thought to be the oldest in the world. The vines are part of Penfold’s famous 10-acre “Block 42” parcel within the Kalimna Vineyard. Grenache and shiraz (syrah) vines that are more than 100 years old are also commonly found in Australia. Amazingly many of these oldsters are on their own roots (not grafted onto American rootstock), since Australia was not crippled by phylloxera, the root-eating insect that between 1860 and 2000 destroyed vineyards in most other parts of the world.

“The minor miracle of wine is that it has evolved to the point where alcohol is perhaps the last element that gets the wine lover drunk. With wine, from a particular place and vintage, we can get drunk on history; anyone who has drunk a great wine twice their age will immediately relate to this. We can get drunk on place, recalling memories and associations with the region in which the wine was made. We can get drunk on remembrance: each wine naturally reminds us of previous occasions when it or similar wines were consumed, and this in turn can evoke countless memories of friends, meals and times past. Of course, wine lovers can get drunk purely on the lifted perfume of a great bottle or the textured, velvety mouthfeel and lingering flavors that scent the breath after swallowing.”

—Robert Walters, “The Wine of Astonishment” The World of Fine Wine, Issue 22

—Robert Walters, “The Wine of Astonishment” The World of Fine Wine, Issue 22

The Indescribability of Albariño

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