Wine with Leslie: Spanish whites in the limelight
Pic: iStock
Deep in holiday season and finally the weather has warmed up a little - time to talk about some of my favourite white wines.
Inevitably I have turned to Spain, champions of Europe in football but also frequently beating their European neighbours in wine bargains. We already drink a huge amount of Spanish red wine of course but don’t neglect the whites.
Albariño needs little introduction to Irish wine folk given its popularity, but I have a new one recommended below that has not appeared here before.Â
Meanwhile O’Briens have Veiga Naum Albariño for €15 (down from €20), SuperValu have the Albellio Albariño reduced to €14 from €17 and Dunnes Stores have the Laurent Miquel Albariño for €11 (it’s French but don’t let that stop you!).
What I love about Spanish whites is they often provide texture as well as crispness and drinkability.Â
With that in mind I am suggesting an Albet i Noya Xarel-lo from Penedès in Catalonia, a grape I have championed before but which is still relatively rare enough on Irish shelves.Â
I visited Albet i Noya earlier in the year and was impressed with their efforts to restore old walled vineyards and generally reduce their carbon footprint.
Other grapes you should explore from Spain included the much maligned Viura from Rioja, oak aged versions of which can be quite sublime.Â
Verdejo with its bay leaf and lime flavours also needs a look in and of course look to Godello from Bierzo and Galician regions such as Ribeira Sacra and Valdeorras.
Galicia is also home to Caiño Branco which is worth trying if you find it, and of course Treixadura which deserves more traction.Â
Adeus below is one of those wines that you will buy again and again once tasted. Viva España.
I love Xarel-lo based wines, one of the world’s more underrated white grape varieties and the backbone of the best Cava. This 100% Xarel-lo and has soft pear aromas with a touch thyme and rosemary- creamy peach and pear fruits but with a zingy taut finish. Also watch for El Fanio Xarel-lo (€22).
From small independent importer James Rodgers who also brings in Pesquera. Treixadura is virtually unknown outside Ribeiro and Northern Portugal and deserves to be better known. Floral and almost lush on the nose, peaches and sweet pears being particularly noticeable. Creamy and ripe with lemon and dried lime acidity and pleasing textures.
I have featured this producers’ Godello before but not their Albariño. This gets six months on the lees (spent yeast) for extra texture and this comes through on the palate. Ripe apricot and peach aromas with a streak of lime, textured and weighty with an oily richness balanced by a saline crisp finish.
This is the third ‘wonders of wood’ edition exploring the impact of unusual woods on Dublin distilled Pot Still Whiskey. A previous edition won a ‘World’s Best Pot Still’ award. Swedish oak is a rare white oak, denser and more robust which gives sweet treacle notes.
Bottled at 50% this has a distinct lemon-caramel and malt aroma, sweet toffee and spice on the palate with nuts and treacle coming through, and a pepper and nutmeg note on the finish. Delicious.
