It’s World Albariño Day today – 1 August. I’ve got a soft spot for arbitrary wine holidays, so I’m marking the occasion by using it as an excuse to spend the weekend guzzling one of my favourite white wines. I’ve given you notice (sort of), so off you go to your nearest independent or supermarket to pick up something racy and saline.
It used to be thought that the albariño grape was brought to Spain by the French monks of Cluny, but that has since been disproved, with no parentage between albariño and burgundian varieties. Rather, the grape is now believed to be an ancient variety that’s native to the Iberian coast, with a naturally thick skin providing resistance to the diseases a humid climate can give rise to (alvarinho is the grape’s name in northern Portugal, where it’s essential in the production of easy-to-love vinho verde).
The wines it produces are direct and acidic, with an unmistakable mineral salinity. It’s often unoaked, but some producers are having fun by experimenting with barrel-ageing their albariños to give them extra weight and depth. Such wines are often drunk a little later, but most albariño is designed to be drunk within a couple of years of its release.
But why August for World Albariño Day? Why not deepest, darkest winter or the yawning, stretching spring? My guess is that it’s because the stuff goes down like a homesick mole and works with pretty much anything you’d want to eat when it’s hot and sticky outside. Which makes sense when you think of Galician cooking, or indeed other coastal regions that grow albariño, where the cuisine is defined by seafood. What grows together goes together, and all that.
A friend of a friend in Galicia says albariño has aguja, unlike most other Spanish wines. The word translates as “needle”, and relates to the verve of top, high-acid albariño, whose unique electricity is best paired with very simple seafood, preferably cooked in salt water, as they do in Galicia.
“It’s my go-to picnic wine,” says Jeff Koren, director of wine at The Chancery Rosewood in Mayfair, who loves albariño so much that he once worked a vintage at the vaunted Bodegas Albamar. “I want to drink it with crudites, Greek salad, prosciutto or jamón with melon, while I’d pair the cool, textured, barrel-aged stuff with anything I’m eating in the summer heat.”
The grape’s harmonious relationship with coastal regions has brought it to various corners of the world where the vineyards benefit from cooling maritime climates. Areas of New Zealand, California and South America are all producing their own interpretations of this wine, so there are plenty of options for your albariño day celebrations. Apologies for the rather late notice, it will almost definitely happen again.
Four albariños to tickle the tastebuds
M&S Albariño Uruguay £10 Ocado, 12%. Defined by the Uruguayan coast, this saline wine shows ripe peach and nectarine.
Adega de Moncao Trajarinho Vinho Verde £11.95 Jeroboams, 12%. A classically styled vinho verde made from alvarinho and trajadura.
Anna’s Way Nelson Albariño £11.95 The Wine Society, 14%. From New Zealand, this is all orchard fruit and lively citrus.
Bodegas Albamar Albariño £28 Mother Superior, 12%. Made with natural yeasts, this is a great introduction to this experimental producer.