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Delhi Wine Club

Posted: Friday, October 5 2007. 1:00 PM

Guest Feature : Best of Spanish Wines

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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