Albarino

When I used this picture previously in a blog entry, it was to introduce the method of vinification of carbonic maceration. I now realized that I have not really dealt with the wine itself which is a varietal Albarino, nor of the grape from which it was made. The wine was drunk at a restaurent in Barcelona in May 2006, when I was there attending a Catholic doctors' conference, but my first encounter of a wine made from Albarino was a few years before that, at the last wine dinner that was held at the Furama Hotel in November 2001. It was the welcome drink, and I initially thought it was a Riesling as it reminded me of the German examples.

Albarino is grown in Galcia as well as north west Portugal, its Prime Name Alvharinho indicative of its Portuguese origins. It is one of the recommended grapes for white Vinho Verde, whilst in Galicia there has been a fashion for aromatic varietal Albarino wines from Rias Baixa since 1986. There the wines produced are fruity (suggestive of apricots and peaches), light bodied with high acidity and moderate alcohol strength of 11.5-12.5%.