Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Albariño (13% abv), at £7.99, is a bit of a bargain.
Regular readers will know I have a taste for this grape which thrives in the delightful Rias Baixas area of "green Spain", the Galician west coast. And they'll also know that it's a very fashionable grape, where fashionable = expensive.
So, to find one in the sub £8 price range that's worth drinking is A Good Thing... especially when it has a Decanter Bronze award from the International Wine Challenge. It was nice to use a favoured grape for the first white wine in Wine of the Week.
Reader feedback says this was a popular choice.
"I've tried this before and loved it".
Wines that we want to buy again and again are what we're all looking for, and for me, Albariño is one of those wines. It's a match made in heaven for fish dishes and I often head straight to "whites from Spain" in restaurant wine lists as it just takes out all of the guess work.
Regular readers will know I have a taste for this grape which thrives in the delightful Rias Baixas area of "green Spain", the Galician west coast. And they'll also know that it's a very fashionable grape, where fashionable = expensive.
So, to find one in the sub £8 price range that's worth drinking is A Good Thing... especially when it has a Decanter Bronze award from the International Wine Challenge. It was nice to use a favoured grape for the first white wine in Wine of the Week.
Reader feedback says this was a popular choice.
"I've tried this before and loved it".
Wines that we want to buy again and again are what we're all looking for, and for me, Albariño is one of those wines. It's a match made in heaven for fish dishes and I often head straight to "whites from Spain" in restaurant wine lists as it just takes out all of the guess work.
But what of this example? On the label it's billed as having "peach and apricot aromas with mineral and citrus notes" and being "crisp and refreshing with an elegant minerality". How does that translate?
At the Purple Teeth household, it paired nicely with a meal of prawns. We found hints of grapefruit, and not so much of the peach. There was minerality - a kind of flintiness you sometimes get from Riesling. There are theories that these two grapes may be related. It's very easy to drink. We've drunk it before and we'll drink it again. It's not an archetypal Albariño, but it is a very good way to start if you don't want to experiment spending £10-15 a bottle.
If you like crisp, aromatic whites, I'm sure you'll love it. Give Albariño a try, and explore a side of Spain you don't normally see. Better still, head to Galicia and taste it, in its local environment. Check out the film below if you want to be seduced by the views, the food, wine and culture.
At the Purple Teeth household, it paired nicely with a meal of prawns. We found hints of grapefruit, and not so much of the peach. There was minerality - a kind of flintiness you sometimes get from Riesling. There are theories that these two grapes may be related. It's very easy to drink. We've drunk it before and we'll drink it again. It's not an archetypal Albariño, but it is a very good way to start if you don't want to experiment spending £10-15 a bottle.
If you like crisp, aromatic whites, I'm sure you'll love it. Give Albariño a try, and explore a side of Spain you don't normally see. Better still, head to Galicia and taste it, in its local environment. Check out the film below if you want to be seduced by the views, the food, wine and culture.
Next week's Wine of the Week will be Merlot from Wines of France range at Tesco, currently reduced to £4.49 so grab a bottle and let me know what you think.
RSS Feed
