leaving on a jet plane

If we walk along the El Camino Real from our house along the Ventura beach at night to Santa Barbara county campsites at Refugio or El Capitan State Beach just north of Santa Barbara, the lights of the squid boats bounce gently on the open ocean.  They quietly gather there, moving into their spots as the sun sets. One minute you’re watching the falling light, the next you’re gazing on the twinkling squid boats with the stars above. 

If I walked further –A LOT FURTHER than I did on the Pacific Crest Trail–I could find myself on the Camino de Santiago in Spain’s western shore, Galicia. 

After all they say, the Camino — The Way of St James — starts at your front door.  

And there are as many ways to get there as there are people who walk the way– over 300,000 people a year– with nearly 23,200 people along the Portuguese Coastal Path which travels through and, like all the Caminos, ends in Galicia, Spain.

This year, the World Wine Travel group of wine writers explore Espana, and this month we virtually visit Galicia, a trip we are pairing with Albariño wines from the Rias Baixas D. O. And Santiago de Campestoloa is located just above! 

These rivers and estuaries are where the hand of God rested after creation… and the Atlantic provides a moderating influence ideal for wine grapes which arrived in the area with the Romans more than 1000 years ago, and cultivated by the monks along the Camino de Santiago. Learn more about Galicia and the Camino here.

Over time, the landholdings were split up among the children of the next generation leaving such a small amount to harvest that most of it was made for familial enjoyment. Today those small lots are gathered together to make enough wine for export to the rest of the world. 

Four more interesting facts about wine in Galicia: 

• Often a pergola trellising system raises the grapes head high above the ground and uses granitic blocks — one vine per block– so vines are widely spaced and can handle the high humidity that’s common in the region for most of the year.
• Vines are largely cared for and pruned by women
• Over 50% of the winemakers in the region are women.
• The impacts of climate change has brought riper stone fruit flavors, less acidity and citrus. 

What to pair with your Albariño?

Galicia has the world’s richest supply of shellfish so no surprise that the rich gastronomy of the area is based on the sea. 

Here’s 9 meals to pair with this white wine from Spain.

2018 Tangent Albariño Paragon Vineyard Edna Valley
purchased by Gretel at Costco

Because we are starting our journey here on the West Coast of North America, we decided to start with a wine from along the El Camino Real that’s super easy to find in the US and that makes a great introduction to the grape. 

Color: Deep, ripe lemon rind, gold

Nose: Meadow of wildflowers and grass, herbal, estuary, slough, mossy, lemon

Palate: Lemon, lemon lime, tart acidity at the front of the palate, relatively simple, possibly riper fruit but still plenty of tartness, Meyer lemon not Eureka.

We visited Tangent a few years ago– and we did a tasting with their Albarino and cheese which you can read about here in “How To Taste, Pair Wine and Cheese for National Wine and Cheese Day.”

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oysters with uni

2019 Martin Codax Albariño, Salnes Valley, Rias Baixas
sample for my review consideration; thank you!

The label on the Martin Codax bottle features a musical instrument because he was a famous musician from the 13th century. Katia Alvarez who makes the wines, says

in the mouth it is a breath of freshness… it’s round but very savory

She ferments in concrete eggs, large oak barrels, or stainless steel, depending on the fruit from the various small plots (2500!) from 600 families in the Salnes Valley.

Color: Very pale yellow, lemon chiffon, hint of green

Nose: Ocean breeze, sea grass, lemon, lime, salinity, minerals, clover, banana, light kiwi

Palate: Lots of tart lemon, salinity, acidity, acidity and fruit nicely integrated, clean pleasant finish

Pairing: Very nice with all of the Manchego cheeses. You would not always think of pairing white wine with chorizo, but it works so well. Especially great with the fried almonds Sue threw together.

Oysters bring out peach nectarine flavors in the wine, and food in general brings out much more complexity. The squid and the wine are both quite lean. Together the lemon characteristics of both sing.

This wine more than the others responds to food. It becomes a much better, more complex wine with the right food.

2020 Senorio de Rubios Robalino Albariño, Rias Baixas
ABV 12.6
sample for my review consideration; thank you

These grapes come from the Condadodo Tea subarea of Rías Baixas.

Color: lemon, hint of green

Nose: intense fragrance of white stone fruit especially white nectarine, gooseberry, kiwi, lemon blossom

Palate: super lively, party in your mouth, kiwi, off the charts acidity, uniqueness, something special, distinct, expression of that place, long finish, bitterness, almond,

this is what a albarino should be…

Pairing: No surprise that the wine works well with the different Manchego cheeses. It worked so well with the Spanish chorizo, and even better when the chorizo is fried like bacon.

With the oyster and uni, fabulous. The wine becomes peach nectar and the richness of the uni is absolute heaven.

The mussels changes this lively acidic wine to a sweet and peachy. The salinity of the mussels balance out the acidity in the wine.

There is a fabulous bitterness to the wine and the food when paired with the salad.

There is a lovely richness to both when paired with the squid. The smoked paprika in the dish is a nice compliment to the wine.

This was not the wine for our dessert fighting it all the way. It was too tart to go with the dessert making it seem sweeter than this very lightly sweet dessert was.

2020 Fillaboa, Albariño, Rias Baixas
ABV 13.3%
sample for my review consideration; thank you!

At Fillaboa, there’s the remains of a Roman bridge!

Fillaboa means good daughter — the owner of the land had three daughters and he left it the the “good daughter.”

Unlike other wineries in the region, they own their own 74-hectare vineyard located on the border with the Tea and Miño Rivers in the south near Portugal. Fermented in stainless steel tanks and kept on lees until bottling. 

Color: lemon, effervescent

Nose: bitter almond, banana taffy, tropics, florals, waxy white flowers,

Palate: acidity but not tangy, softer, slicker, mouthfeel stands out, interesting, slick smoothness

Pairing: The wine works so well with all of the Manchego cheeses bringing out so much of the wonder tropical fruit notes in the wine. It also loves the smokey spicey characteristics of the  chorizo. Also great with the Spanish Manchego crackers. Stack the cracker with one or more kinds of Manchego with a bit of chorizo and a nut on top and you will not be disappointed.

While this wine worked fine with the oysters, not as fabulous as the other two but so fantastic with the mussels — truly a pairing made in heaven. This wine had the least acidic characteristics of all of the wine when tasting it on its own.

When paired with the squid dish bright lemon acidity came through in the wine. It became an entirely different wine, no longer the smooth operator but a bright  tart  lovely pairing.

The salad was beautiful with this wine, loving the citrus, the almonds, and the citrus olive oil dressing.

With our dessert, the wine becomes very lively and mellows out the citrus in the cake.

Lots of participants this month thanks to the support of Rias Baixas! For more Albarino, check out: 

• Steve at Children of the Grape shares Troubadours, Love, and Wine.
• Terri at Our Good Life discusses One Grape: Three Unique Experiences with Albarino.
• Andrea at The Quirky Cork writes about Albariño and Bacon: A Love Affair.
• Lynn at Savor the Harvest recommends A Region and Wine You Must Explore: Rias Baixas and Albariño.
• Jeff from Food Wine Click! shares A Tale of Two Rias Baixas Albarinos.
• Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm talks about My Virtual Trip to Rias Baixas.
• Allison and Chris at ADVineTURES discuss The White Wines of Rias Baixas.
• Nicole from Somm’s Table shares It’s Raining Rias Baixas.
• Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla pairs Sopa de Cebolla + 2020 Fillaboa Albariño.
• Martin from ENOFYLZ Wine Blog talks about Bodegas Zarate; Setting the Standard for Rias Baixas Albarino – Then and Now.
• David at Cooking Chat pairs Pan Seared Sea Bass with Albariño.
• Jennifer at Vino Travels shares Refresh Your Palate with Rias Baixas Albarino.
• Melanie from Wining with Mel takes a Wine Romp Through Rias Baixas in Galicia, Spain.
• Rupal from Syrah Queen has Your Passport To Rias Baixas – Explore Three Incredible Albarinos.
• Susannah at Avvinare posts Rias Baixas – Green Spain Entices.
• Here on Wine Predator we share From California’s Camino Real to Galicia’s Camino de Santiago: All Aboard for Albariño 2!
• Liz at What’s In That Bottle? says Pack Your Bags: We’re off to Rias Baixas for an Albariño Adventure.
• Linda, your host, from My Full Wine Glass offers 5 Things that Might Surprise You About Rías Baixas, Home of Albariño.

Check out our twitter chat, live at 8am Pacific, by searching for the hashtag #WorldWineTravel. We’ll be discussing the following: