Quickie: Albarino Stars at St. Bart's

Albariño a Nueva York

I went to the big Rias Baixas tasting held at St. Bart's the other day.  Sat through a rather long seminar on the grape and its terroirs in Galicia, that green, somewhat Celtic part of northwest Spain where they play bagpipes and wear kilts (well there was a piper there wearing one), where they speak a language closer to Portuguese than Castilian, and where the cool humid climate makes white wines something of a necessity.  Too much of the seminar dwelt on silly comparisons between Albarino and Riesling -- which are hardly in the same class at all despite Galician myths to the contrary.  One item of interest: three "older" (all the way back to 2001!) Albarinos were tasted, and the wines had gained some gravitas and balance with time in bottle.  

The talk should have compared and contrasted Albarino with its French counterpart, Muscadet.  Both are cool-climate wines from near the sea, both traditionally paired with local seafood.  Both are pale to light gold in color, matching the intensity of the flavor profiles. I think Albarino has an advantage here -- it's slightly more "glyceric," with a little line of extra sugar mollifying the sometimes assertive acidity, even though it remains quite dry on the finish.  As I saw at the food stations later, some Albarinos paired very well with Chinese and Indian food. 

Photo: Pazo de Senorans, home of one of the better wines tasted.  They have their "agriturismo" too

The big takeaway for me: Albarino is the perfect alternative to Gewurtztraminer when you're eating Asian-inflected cuisine, especially when blended with a little Loureiro and Treixadura, the common regional blending grapes.  (Some people find Gewurtz just too much. Albarino has the acidity and underlying structure to stand up to those spicy foods, but not to compete with them.)

These wines were variations on a theme -- not much range or tremendous depths but pleasing and quite versatile with grub. As to comparisons with Italian "seafood whites," these compared fairly well with Campanian wines like Falanghina and Greco di Tufo (my personal favorite of Campania's white wines).  I think Albarino still lacks the range and "organoleptic" depth of these Italian varieties.

However, most of the Albarinos retail for under $20.  And the ones at $15 - 17 were as good as the more expensive bottles. 

Comments

[East Village Wine Geek]

Sounds to me like you should have headed up the seminar. Riesling? A stretch indeed. Just the fact that you are reminiscing of Campanian whites such as falanghina and greco di tufo while sipping albarino should be an indication. I like the idea of albarino with asian fare. I always go straight for a sylvaner, kerner or auslese. Looks like my next curry, dim sum, or sushi adventure will be with a Galicia white. Thanks for the info.

EVWG

[Terry Hughes]

You give me too much credit!

Anyhow, glad to have passed on some useful info.

BTW, went to the Portuguese tasting yesterday, which was awesome from a restaurateur's point of view. Lots of really inexpensive but good reds in a variety of styles, mostly intriguing blends of local grapes. I know you like Touriga Nacional but that was just the tip of the iceberg.