| White
Wines of Spain: Spain was once lost in the
backwaters of white wine production, but in the past
ten years has begin to come into its own, especially
with un-oaked white wines from the Atlantic climate
of Galicia in northwestern Spain and the Atlantic-influenced
continental climate of Castilla y León. Galicia's
Ríaxas Baixas region is producing some top-notch
100% Albariños, which have become quite ubiquitous
on American restaurant wine lists over the past few
years (the U.S. is the most important importer of Ríaxas
Baixas wines), because they are so food-friendly and
delightful to drink.
I could easily recommend a dozen or more Albariño
producers, many of whom also make stellar special cuvées
(in parenthesis) that spend from nine months to three
years on the lees in depósitos (stainless
steel tanks): the top ones are Pazo de Señorans
(and their spectacularly good Selección de Añadas),
the long-lived Palacios de Fefiñanes
(and Fefiñanes III Año); Fillaboa
(and Selección Monte Alto), Lusco
(and Pazo Piñeiro de Lusco), Castro Martín
(and Avián), Do Ferreiro (and
Cepas Vellas); Pazo de Barrantes; Pazo San Mauro,
Lagar de Cervera and Pazo Pondal.
Don't neglect considering wines that are not labeled
Albariño, because there are many excellent wines–try
Terras Gauda, Torroxal, Veigadares and the legendary
Santiago Ruíz–with the Ríaxas Baixas
70% minimum of Albariño that is blended with
indigenous treixadura, loureiro or caiño blanco.
These indigenous varieties add complexity and are more
typical of the traditional wines from the O Rosal and
Condado del Tea zones along the Minho River border with
Portugal.
There have been numerous attempts to barrel ferment
Albariños and smother all that delicious fruit
with oaky, toasty, buttery, raspy assaults on the palate.
Fortunately, most of these attempts have not been well
received by the public (most Spanish wine writers have
never met a barrel-fermented wine they didn't like;
they love buzz words like barrel fermented, unfined-unfiltered,
battonage, old vines and new French oak, especially
expensive brand-named oak and, of course, deep color,
which has nothing whatsoever to do with real quality.)
Also in Galicia and well worth seeking out are wines
from Ribeiro and Valdeorras
. The generally un-oaked wines from Ribeiro are usually
made with 80-85% Treixadura, are laced with indigenous
varieties such as torrontés, godello and albariño,
generally are mercifully un-oaked and tip the alcohol
meter at a mere 11.5% - 12.5%, which makes them delightful
with seafood, especially Galician shellfish and octopus,
cheeses and as a light relief to fatty or cream-sauced
dishes. The wines to try are Sanclodio, Tiera X, Manuel
Rojo, Viña Martín, Gran Reboreda, Viña
Mein and the stellar Emilio Rojo.
Also from Galicia is Valdeorras, where the indigenous
Godello may be the most promising native white grape
in Spain, especially when grown on the region's pizarra
(slate)-strewn soils. So far Godeval and Guitian have
given glimpses of potential greatness of Godello, but
now that two major carpetbagger winemakers are making
wines in the region, interest is set to explode, one
hopes for all the right reasons (please don't kill this
great stuff with oak!). Both Telmo Rodríguez,
who is making wine all over Spain, and Rafael
Palacios, younger brother of Álvaro
Palacios (Priorat, La Rioja, Bierzo) have staked
claims in Valdeorras. Rodríguez's first effort,
Gabo Do Xil Godello, was modest, but the Spanish press
raved about Palacios's As Sortes, which was fermented
in 3000 liter upright oak foudres, not new, one prays.
Other very promising wines to try are those from Val
do Sil, Viña Somoza, the superb A Coroa
and the charming, delicious Casal Novo.
Within the last few years, Rueda, in Castilla y León,
some two hours northwest of Madrid, has come into its
own as a very reliable producer of delicious, generally
unoaked, well-balanced, food-friendly, very reasonably
priced white wines. The best Ruedas such as Martinsancho,
Dos Victorias José Pariente, Palacio de Bornos,
Javier Sanz Viticultor Vila Narcisa, Blanco Nieva Pie
Franco and Naia are all 100% Verdejo. Other Rueda bodegas,
including recommended Basa, Marqués de Riscal
and Mantel Blanco use a minimum of 85% verdejo blended
with viura or sauvignon blanc. All these wines weigh
in at just 12.5% - 13% alcohol, which makes them excellent
choices for by the glass and second bottle sales. There
are also several sauvignon blancs made here, but they
are overshadowed by the quality of the verdejo in this
region. Unlike Ríaxas Baixas, where native varieties
add a touch of complexity, few verdejos are improved
by the addition of the ubiquitous, usually insipid viura/macabeo
of La Rioja and Cataluña, nor sauvignon blanc,
which only Miguel Torres with his Fransola
seems to have truly mastered in Spain.
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