Home of one of my favourite grape varieties, Rías Baixas lies in Spain’s north west corner and is Galicia’s top wine producing region. It is responsible for some of Spain’s most popular dry white wines, many of which are from the Albariño grape.

They have those monks to thank again, as they were the first to introduce and harvest Albariño in the 12th century. The white grape variety now covers around 90% of vineyard area. Crisp and fragrant, the wines have bags of flavour, some which may remind you of stone fruits, such as apricot and peach.

Rías Baixas achieved DO status in 1988. It was joined by a few other big wine producing regions around this time, as the country finally geared themselves towards leaving the devastation of Phylloxera behind them. For years after the pest had ravaged vines across Europe, the region had been producing a lot of low quality wine from high yielding hybrids (a cross between two grape species).

In the late 1970’s, however, growers were encouraged to replant native varieties and in turn they were given incentives from the government and the EU to help build more modern wine making facilities. From here, Rías Baixas grew from strength to strength and their fantastic wines are now widely available from good stockists worldwide and here in Ireland. Adventurously, a few wineries have started to experiment with the use of oak in Albariño, including Valdamor.

The DO is divided into 5 sub-regions, all offering something a little different in terms of terroir. Godello and Torrontes are among a few other grape varieties that are permitted to be grown.

There’s no better time and place to take advantage of the treasures of Rias Baixas than here, with 20% off all Spanish wines for the month of February (while stocks last).

To help kick off our sale on our Spanish range, Mike is tasting the Valdamor Albarino from Rias Biaxas. This vintage picked up a Gold Medal in Decanter’s World Wine Awards in 2008. If you’re not familiar with this grape variety, or if you want a truly great example, the Valdamor is well worth a shot.

To view product page and for more details, click on Valdamor Albarino.

I picked up some scallops last weekend from the fabulous Glenmar Fish Shop in Union Hall, West Cork, and reminded myself just how easy they are to cook and so utterly divine to taste. I hadn’t tried this wine in a while so I opened a bottle of Orballo Albarino and a match made in West Cork heaven was made.

Here, Niall shows how to cook scallops in just a little bit of oil and some salt, and I did something similar. The Orballo worked a treat, with crisp, tangy apple fruit and a minerally, spicy finish giving my scallops all the complementary flavours they needed.

Try this at home and you’ll have a treat to rival anything you’d get in a top restaurant.

Ingredients (could it be any easier?):

• Scallops
• Oil
• Salt.

Recipe:

1. Season your scallops on both sides with the salt.
2. Heat your oil in a non stick frying pan over a high heat.
3. Place the scallops into the hot pan and caramelize for 1 minute without moving around or touching them.
4. Turn the scallops over and cook for a another 30 seconds.
5. Take off the heat and serve immediately.

Recipe and video courtesy of Look and Taste.

I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but there’s been some confusion surrounding Australian Albariño of late, and it only came to my attention when I was reading an email from joint winemaker at Cascabel in McLaren Vale, Duncan Ferguson, who was considering planting the varietal himself.

“On the subject of Albarino, there’s a huge fuss here at the moment, it seems that due to a stuff up by the original importers (an Aust. Govt. body), that we don’t really have Albariño in Australia. It’s actually Savagnin (a variety from the Jura in France!). No wonder I hadn’t tasted any here that reminded me of a good Spanish one.”

According to Felix Cabello Sáenz de Santa María, head of the largest vine variety collection in Spain, the mix up can actually be traced back to its homeland. Many years ago Savagnin Blanc and Albariño were confused in some Spanish areas and a wrong sample collected in Orense in 1951 was labelled with the name of Albariño, when it was actually Savagnin. Essentially, all samples sent from the collection between 1955 and 1984 were Savagnin Blanc.

This discovery is partly thanks to advancements in DNA testing. I’ve never actually tried Australian Savagnin Blanc (which I’m sure is very good), but I really hope the Australian government, or whoever is in charge, can sort this out quickly so that wineries, such as Cascabel, can start to produce Rias Baixas quality Albariño alongside their other world class wines. I’m just too big a fan of the stuff.

To view our range from Cascabel, click here, and to read more about their Spanish influence, click here.

Education is a big part of our identity. With this slender Spaniard we hope to encourage a few to experiment a little. If you’re into your whites (or want to get into them) and are willing to try something other than another Chardonnay or Sauvignon, the Valdamor Albarino (2007) is sure to convert you, and with a lot more than just it’s striking bottle.

This premium drop won a Decanter Gold Medal this year and has received much admiration from critics worldwide.

The high quality vines are grown in vineyards located in the sandy soils of the south facing slopes of the River Umia in Rias Baixas (northwest Spain), where after months of tender love and care, the Albarino grapes were picked at just the right time, in the third week of September.

The wine is left on fine lees for 8 months in stainless steel tanks giving a special richness and a lingering finish.

The finished product is straw yellow in colour, with aromas of ripe fruits, such as apple. Complex flavours and a rich structure come through on the palate to round off this heavyweight award winning pleasure.

Another Albarino to tempt you is the Orballo, which received a Silver medal from Decanter. It’s an absolute favourite of Joe from Uptime Printing just a few doors down. We’ll be getting more in just for you, Joe. And Frank of RF wine enjoyed this one too. 90/100.

Wine fact: Around 90% of all vines planted in Rias Baixas are those of Albarino.