Here in Rías Baixas, the Galician home of albariño in northwestern Spain, the most common answer to a direct question is, “It depends.”
It’s not that Galicians aren’t committed or hedging their bets. It’s more that they know the complexity of many situations and don’t want to oversimplify things.
That’s why if you ask a winemaker here about the future of albariño, or best practices for growing grapes or making wines, the answer you’re likely to get is, “It depends.”
The answers to these kinds of questions are particularly relevant today because Rías Baixas is at an inflection point. Since Rías Baixas has become an appellation in 1988, growers and winemakers were encouraged to produce albariño and lots of it.
The result is a popular commodity wine: cheap, aromatic, easy to drink and forget. In many people’s minds, that’s all an albariño can be.
However, as is often the case with wine, ideas about the grape’s potential for complexity and aging become fixed not because of the grape’s actual limitations but because few people have tried to do more than that. But when a producer treats a grape more ambitiously, things start to change – just look at aligoté, silvaner and bobal. How the albariño is farmed and what type of wine it is intended for will dictate its potential.
In the Rías Baixas, a growing group of farmers and producers are exploring the capabilities of albariño, cultivating the grape with care and sensitivity and experimenting with different winemaking methods.
In the process, they showed that albariño can produce wines that age for decades and offer appealing complexities. And beyond albariño, they are reexamining the history of the region, reviving forgotten grapes and neglected vineyards, and finding excellence as other parts of Spain have done, such as sherry country and the Sierra de Gredos.
Instead of settling for simple and fruity, some winemakers in the Rías Baixas are making singular albariños — savory, salty and meditative, perhaps reminiscent of old bottles.
“Albariño in the past was a royal wine,” says Eulogio Pomares, a walking Galician history book who, with his wife Rebecca, produces excellent wines under Zarate label. “People used to grow red grapes to drink every day. Only the rich became white.”
Albariño is probably rare. Galicia has historically been one of Spain’s poorest, most isolated regions, and one of its most unique. Unlike the rest of Spain’s population, its inhabitants are Celtic. In addition to Spanish, most Galicians speak Galego, a language that has more in common with Portuguese than with Spanish.
Everywhere you look in the Rías Baixas, you see granite. The houses are made of granite. Also floors, walls, even bathroom sinks. You will find boulders, and old granite quarries, as well as granite hórreos, ancient structures for storing crops a few feet above the ground to protect against animals. Some are topped with both granite crosses and old Celtic fertility symbols, because, well, it depends.
Granite, whether decomposed as soil or as granite bedrock underneath, shapes the wine and gives it its character. Also the climate. Rías Baixas is among the muggiest areas in Spain, in part because of its proximity to the Atlantic. Mold and rot are constant threats to grapes.
In response, the region developed a pergola-like vine system, where vines are trained six to eight feet from the ground on columns to crossbeams above, all made of granite, naturally. The system allows air to circulate underneath, keeping the vines cool and reducing humidity while allowing subsistence farmers to plant other crops, such as potatoes or carrots, underneath.
Rías Baixas is a historic land of small vineyards, and vines are everywhere — in backyards and in front. In 1988, the first year of the appellation, the region produced about 500,000 bottles, Mr. Pomares said. Today, the annual production is about 50 million.
“In the 16th century, corn was more important than grapes,” he said. “On rock and granite, where corn did not grow, there they planted vines. Those farmers are more intelligent. They have a place for corn, a place for cattle, a place for vines. Today, vines are everywhere.”
That became a problem as albariño rose in popularity. Companies and cooperatives that produce cheap albariño plant in fertile, sandy soils. Large companies from outside the region have also moved in, hoping to add albariño to their portfolio. They outbid local producers for grapes, says Alberto Nanclares who, with his partner, Silvia Prieto, makes excellent wine under Nanclares and Prieto label.
“These guys are destroying the market,” he said.
Their wines may be cheap, but they can’t compare to Zarate or Nanclares y Prieto. A 2015 Zarate El Palomar, from a small vineyard planted by his wife’s family in 1850, is rich, pure and deeply mineral. A Nanclares y Prieto 2013 Coccinella Cepas Vellas, made from centuries-old vines, is fresh and salty after 10 years.
Wines like this are quite expensive for albariño, around $50 a bottle, if you can find them. They are made in small quantities and are snapped up. But even the top cuvées from these producers, around $25, are a big step above the $12 bottles from the big companies and cooperatives.
The idea of making a long-lived albariño is not new. Two estates, Do Ferreiro and Pazo de Señoranshas been making beautiful, multidimensional albariños since the 1990s.
Gerardo Méndez started Do Ferreiro with his father, Francisco, in 1988, the year the appellation was formed. His family has been making wine at home for a long time, as have many small farmers.
“When wine is made at home, it’s meant to age,” he said. “When Rías Baixas started, companies said they needed a wine that would go to market immediately.”
Mr. Méndez, who now works with his son, Manuel, and daughter, Encarna, sees no reason to change styles. His flagship albariño is delicious and can be aged for a decade or more. But the real treat is the Do Ferreiro Cepas Vellas, made from old vines around the Méndez home. The 2016 was wonderful — intense, concentrated and textured.
Manuel and Encarna expanded production to include several single-vineyard wines. Manuel, in charge of planting and making wine, is an inquiring type who doesn’t accept conventional wisdom. He thinks the parra system is often good, but not always.
“It depends,” he said.
He replanted their Tomado do Sapo vineyard a few years ago, changing it from vines to conventional trellises, because the shady spot had caused rot. Trellises, he said, work better there.
Pazo de Señorans is an exception to the story of small producers. It is an old estate, with a manor house and a large production facility. Marisol Buena runs the winery with her daughter Vicky Mareque Buena and winemaker Ana Quintela Suárez. Their first vintage also coincided with the beginning of the appellation, and they did not change their style.
“People thought we were crazy,” said Ms. Mareque. “They thought albariño should be young and fruity. My mother and Ana said, ‘If they don’t buy, we’ll drink it ourselves.'”
Their wines are made to last. My favorite is the Selección de Añada, a single vineyard bottle aged in the winery for 10 years before release. The current release, 2013, is creamy, saline and mineral but very young. 2005 is so fresh, expressive and on top now.
Other outstanding producers include albariño Rodrigo Méndeza nephew of Gerardo of Do Ferreiro, and Bodegas Albamar, where Xurxo Alba transforms his viticulture into organic and biodynamic and produces excellent bottles like the 69 Arrobas. 2020 is beautiful and rich.
Mr. Méndez is an experimental, self-critical farmer and winemaker who explores both red and white. His albariños, bottled under the Leirana label, include Finca Genoveva, made with grapes from an ancient vineyard whose owner can no longer farm. So, Mr. Méndez took up farming. 2022 Finca Genoveva is a pleasure, super-mineral, focused and salty.
An unlabeled bottle stored in that old winery facility is gorgeous and expressive. Wreathed in cobwebs, it is emotional to open and drink.
“The old warehouses are an object lesson,” said Mr. Méndez. “They didn’t do anything to the wine, and look how well it lives. That’s why we try to keep these traditions. The longer you touch the wine, the more it weakens.”
6 Albariño Producers to Find Now
These six albariño producers, in alphabetical order, are among the best and most interesting in Rías Baixas.
Bodegas Albamar Pure and intriguing albariños and many other wines. (Selections de la Viña, Brooklyn, NY)
Do Ferreiro Each of its albariños is excellent, especially the Cepas Vellas, or old vines. Give it at least five years of aging. (De Maison Selections, Chapel Hill, NC)
Nanclares and Prieto Excellent albariño, bottom to top. (José Pastor Selections/Llaurador Wines, Fairfax, Calif.)
Pazo de Señorans Benchmark producer producing top albariños. The Selection de Anada is especially good. (European Cellars, Charlotte, NC)
Rodrigo Méndez Experimental, analytical producer making wonderful albariños under the Leirana label. (Olé and Obrigado, New Rochelle, NY)
Zarate Good albariños, especially the single-vineyard El Palomar. (Rare Wine Company, Brisbane, Calif.)
follow New York Times Cooking on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and Pinterest. Get regular updates from New York Times Cooking, with recipe suggestions, cooking tips and shopping advice.