Leslie Williams: Hymning the white wines of Spain - including a Dunnes bottle for under €12
Pic: iStock
When we think of great wines from Spain we tend to focus on the intense dark fruits to be found in Ribera del Duero or the more elegant long lived cedar and tobacco-tinged plum fruits of Rioja.
Then there is the silky perfection of Priorat at its best, the meaty black fruits of Monastrell from the South East and the many modern styles such as the juicy natural reds of Penedès and elsewhere.
What we tend to ignore are the great white wines of Spain - yes there are less of them, but they are often fascinating. Ireland is the third largest consumer (by volume) of Rias Baixas Albariño so you probably don’t need much more encouragement on that front, but I would urge you to seek out better examples of Albariño from the likes of Terras Gauda and the top wines of producers such as Santiago Ruiz, Martin Codax.
The best ones age gracefully and develop layers of complexity.
Verdejo is the other famed white grape of North West Spain - its intriguing aromas of bay leaf and anise mixed with almonds and exotic fruits (e.g. guava) are balanced by texture and acidity with a noticeable touch of bitterness on the finish. Rueda has some of Spain’s oldest vines (100+ years) as the sandy soil in the region is inhospitable to phylloxera.
Catalonia, and Penedès in particular, is famed for Cava but also for stone-fruit scented taut and substantial wines made from Xarel-lo, another grape you need to know.
Rioja meanwhile has world-class red grapes to work with but its native Viura is often dismissed as far too innocuous so some Rioja producers grow Grenache Blanc, Viognier, Chardonnay and other grapes instead, often with remarkably tasty results.
However old-school barrel-fermented, bottle-aged Viura can be an extraordinary experience if you can find it - I recommend a gorgeous one below.
Wines this week are all white wines from Spain with some entry-level wines to try if you are unfamiliar, and some more substantial complex age-worthy whites if you want to dig a little deeper.
Besides the two gorgeous Rioja Blanco, I also recommend Belondrade Verdejo at €28 - it is delicious but some day you also need to try Belondrade Y Lurton top cuvée which retails at around €60 and rivals top white Burgundy.
This great value Albariño is from just outside the Rias Baixas DO and is a bit of a find by importers WineLab, especially as Dunnes will occasionally have this on offer for around €11. Soft white peach and lemon aromas, full flavoured and substantial on the palate with zingy citrus freshness and a touch of saline on the finish. Bargain.
Verdejo from Rueda is Spain’s best selling white wine (unlike here where that honour falls to Albariño). This has typical herbal-citrus aromas with a touch of fennel, anise, and background tropical fruits. On the palate are soft white fruits and some tangy textured acidity. Most Verdejo cost over €15 so this is a great introduction.
Albet i Noya appears on this page a lot as they can do no wrong. This is made with 100% Xarel-lo and has soft pear aromas with a hint of garrigue herbs - creamy peach and pear fruits with taut freshness on the finish. Also, watch for its old vine big brother El Fanio (€21).
Owned by France’s famed Lurton family this a blend of oak fermented (one third) plus concrete and stainless steel ferments. Organic grapes, aromatic and substantial on the nose with floral herbal notes and background vanilla. Textured and layered with lemon and fennel notes and pleasing endive bitterness on the finish.
From an unusual blend of grapes and vintages - Tempranillo Blanco, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Viura, Garnacha Blanca and Maturana Blanca from 2018 and 2019. Melon, citrus and tropical touches mixed wirh pithy grapefruit and lemon zest flavours and rounded out by a touch of creamy oak, soft pear fruits and textured complexity.
Oxidatively aged barrel fermented white Rioja is rare these days but needs to be experienced. From 100% Viura fermented in new French oak this pours a copper-gold with beeswax and lavender aromas (to quote Tim Atkin MW) - flavours of almonds and green fruits with lingering tart lemon and surprising freshness. Completely fascinating.
It’s Seasonal Stonewell Cider time - just 2000 litres were made of this delicious summery strawberry cider, so don’t delay. Bottles only arrived in shops this week and won’t last long. Made with fresh Wexford strawberries, long hours were spent figuring out how to filter the juice without stripping out flavour I’m told.
The Strawberry juice was blended with Elstar apple cider plus a touch of bitter-sweet cider to round out the flavours. This pours a hazy dusky pink with good carbonation and delightful aromas of ripe strawberries, apples and citrus. Fleshy ripe strawberry fruits on the palate with freshness and zing. A perfect summer drink.
