Spanish Albariño and Portuguese Alvarinho comprise two sides of same splendid coin

Q. What is Rías Baixas Albariño and why is it so popular?

A. Albariño is the grape and Rías Baixas is the region. A decade ago, few people, including many in the wine business, had heard of either, let alone tried it. Yet it has become one of our go-to wines over the past few years. We are now the world’s third largest consumers of Rías Baixas — not per capita but by volume. Some of this is due to the efforts of the Spanish Commercial Office in Dublin. But another factor is that we really like the style of wine produced by this grape variety.

The far north of Portugal meets the south of Galicia at the Minho River. On the Spanish side, you find Albariño, on the Portuguese side Alvarinho. They are one and the same grape variety. Portugal produces Vinho Verde, or green wine, so-called because of the verdant landscape. It will usually include a proportion of Alvarinho and is often 100 per cent. Rías Baixas is generally pure Albariño.

Any pilgrim who has walked the Camino de Santiago will have passed through the vineyards of Rías Baixas before arriving in the city of Santiago de Compostella. Rías Baixas is in Galicia, in farthest northwest Spain, facing the Atlantic Sea. It is wet and green not unlike Ireland in fact, except it receives just enough sunshine to produce vibrant fresh white wines. Rías Baixas means low estuaries and the vineyards run along the sides of the river sometimes right down to the sea.

Albariño is an easy grape to like. The wines typically have plump rounded pear and apple fruits, usually with a seam of zesty lemon acidity. They are generally unoaked with between 12.5-13 per cent alcohol. Critics suggest that some of the wines have a salty tang too, possibly from being grown so close to the sea. Either way, the wines are fresh and fruity and a pleasure to drink.

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The locals adore seafood; everything from the familiar mussels, oysters, prawns, clams and hake to the more exotic octopus (pulpo), goose-neck barnacles, (percebes) and velvet crab. A visit to the fish market in Santiago is an amazing experience. A glass of Albariño and a plate of plain, fresh shellfish is a wonderful experience. But as well as seafood, Albariño goes very well with a host of salads, mild cheeses, pork and chicken dishes.

Albariño is pronounced ahl bah REE nyoh and Rías Baixas is REE ass bye shus.

There are plenty of well-made, easy-drinking Albariños that sell for €15-€20 and sometimes less. O’Briens has a great range. Bargain hunters will also look across the Border for Alvarinho from Portugal which has improved greatly in recent years. From Rías Baixas, there are also some excellent wines that cost anything from €20-€40. I have to admit that I am hooked and frequently spend €30. The wines are worth it.