notes from a wineaholic/albarino

i'm a big fan of wine. my family being mostly from spain (ole') and somewhat from france (choke) i don't suppose i'd be otherwise. while i was born in cuba, (second generation) my grandparents and prior come from the iberian peninsula, more specifically from the north and northwestern parts of spain, where the gallegos produce spain's best white wines. typically i prefer reds and only was introduced to this type of wine by a client. i have since sampled several bottles to find that my ancestral roots do run deep. according to the Wine Bible by Karen MacNeil, the whites that come from the Rias Baixas stirred a veritable revolution in the 1990s due to the introduction of modern wine making techniques. she describes the flavors as "ranging from zingy citrus-peach to almond-honeysuckle...supple and lightly creamy...and light as gossamer on the palate" don't she talk pretty? it usually has a beautiful golden color when it's poured out, and many people speak of a hint of kiwi in the flavor due to the fact that kiwis are a major agricultural crop in this area, and years ago many kiwi orchards were pulled out in order to plant more albarino. i'm not a wine snob by any means and i have a very open palate, so i like to try different wines and, of course, some things i like and some things not so much. i try to be "appreciative" of the wine for what it offers and where it came from and i love reading her book for the descriptions of the regions which produce the grapes, the countries and their cultures and food pairing suggestions. this area of spain, unlike all others, is known exclusively for white wines and the major grape produced is the albarino, the name which appears on every bottle regardless of the vintner who produced it. to further accentuate the importance of this grape, by comparison most other spanish wines are referred to by their geographic region. i put a fun link on the side there called the "budometer" where you can take a brief questionnaire and see what they have to say about your palate and wine choices. i found it interesting and somewhat accurate. in any case, enjoy your wine. salud, amor y dinero!

my two favorite drunks



THE RIAS BAIXAS