Albariño and the Rías Baixes
You may have friends who have ‘done’ the Camino de Santiago, and if they are anything like mine they will be immensely proud of it. Not those who go by bycicle or horse, but those who have actually walked it. It is absolutely not a stroll in the park, and tales of lancing blisters and dressing ragged feet each evening are par for the pilgrimage. So are stories about arriving late at the pilgrim’s free hostels and finding all the sleeping places have gone and there is no alternative but to pay for a hotel or pension! However, worst of all is the weather…
Galicia, in the top left-hand corner of Spain, gets all the rain anyone could ever want and the lush hills are as green as England’s. In summer, the heat can be stifling and certainly does not make for stress-free walking.
Galicia was settled by the same Celtic races that settled the other western coasts of Europe, which is probably why the Gallegos feel at home in Wales, Ireland and Brittany. This also explains why you may be walking down the street in any town and hear the skirl of bagpipes, something which often surprises visitors – but to the Gallegos is as normal as drinking Ribeiro wine out of porcelain saucers instead of glasses. Since Galicia did not become part of Spain until 1492 and is an established autonomous region, much of the populace believes it should have the same level of autonomy that Cataluña enjoys - but, of course, it is very poor area.
Certainly the wines are different. Production is small and prices are high. Gone are the days when the producers aimed to make large quantities for export and used wine from other regions, notably La Mancha, to bulk out the local stuff. These days Albariño wines particularly, and Rías Baixas (literally low estuaries) wines are among Spain’s top ranking gourmet products. There is an unofficial contest to decide which white wine typifies Spanish production, and Albariño is currently marginally ahead of Rueda in the race.
Galicia is still one of the very few DO regions that uses only local grape varieties, mainly Albariño and Treixadura, turning its back on the imported varieties that are used with varying levels of success in other areas. And, indeed, why should it do anything else with the success its wines enjoy? Many Spaniards will not consider drinking anything but Albariño (or its cheap and cheerful poor cousin, Ribeiro) with seafood – so it stands to reason that a lot gets drunk at home thanks to the huge amount of shellfish that comes ashore at the tiny Galician fishing ports. Ever enjoyed a marisquada: a full platter of as many as seven or eight different types of shellfish from crab to whelks?
There are also three distinct wine-producing areas within the Rías Baixas region that produce Albariño. The southern one runs all the way from the mouth of the Miño river up to where the Portuguese border with Spain turns south, a coastal strip centred on the delightful beach resort of Cambados, and the largest zone just south of Santiago de Compostela. Each has a different micro-climate, and real experts can tell which of the three areas any particular Albariño wine comes from.
If you visit, do not expect to see rows of neatly cultivated vines stretching into the distance. The vineyards are small and spread about wherever the uneven terrain allows, and the grapes have to be kept high to protect them from mildew, so stone posts are used instead of wood for the trellising. This keeps prices high as labour is intensive, and the limited production means only wines with an acceptable level of production find their way out of the region.
Of all the white wines, those from the Rías Baixas are the ones to be drunk youngest, for no other reason than that they do not keep well in the bottle. This is because the pressing of the grapes is as delicate as it gets, with only 20 grams of pressure compared to 70 with most wines. There are red wines, but I have never seen them for sale outside Galicia, where they are drunk enthusiastically, as indeed is the orujo, the ‘schnapps’ or ‘grappa’ equivalent – drunk in small shot glasses at the end of a meal to aid digestion ………..so they say! Perhaps it is not for nothing that Galicia reputedly has the highest level of alcoholism among its population of any region in Spain.
Several named wineries from other regions have set up in Galicia, including the famed Rioja winery of Marqués de Murrieta which landed in Galicia in 1991 and founded a new winery, Pazo de Barrantes. The Pazo de Barrantes vineyard is small, only 8 hectares, without any plans for expansion, but the wine is of a very high quality, and thanks to the parent winery’s distribution network, is available in most outlets.
A new product to watch for typifies the very best of Rias Baixas wines and comes from the new bodega Lagar de Condesa. Only two wines so far: a very de-luxe Albariño in a sexy bottle and an even more up-market twin, aged in oak for lovers of white wines with that particular taste. Not budget range at 18 euros for the Lagar and 21 for the Vía XIX, but if you are not acquainted with Galician wines, there can be no better place to begin. (http://www.lagardacondesa.com/ingles/index.html).
