Galician Wine

Spanish wine has been transformed over the last generation. For a long time Rioja or Torres from Catalonia was all we ever saw here but a host of new styles from unusual grape varieties have emerged and nowhere more so than from Galicia, in Spain’s green northwest.

Within Galicia are five Denominacións de Orixe (DO): Monterrei, Rías Baixas, Ribeira Sacra, Ribeiro and Valdeorras. The best known of these is the white wine made with Albarino in Rias Baixas  and sales are booming in Ireland having doubled in the last five years during a recession.
Other white grapes include Godello, Torrontes, Loureiro, Treixadura and Caino Blanco. Reds can include Mencia, Caino Tinto, Brancellao, Souson and Loureiro Tinta. Invariably there’s a little of Spain’s top two Tempranillo and Garnacha too but generally speaking the region’s wines are like no others in Spain. If they are like anything it is across the border in Portugal where the make white and red Vinho Verde. That means citrus fresh whites and reds with more acidity than most people are used to.

Wines Tasted Today
Coto de Gomariz White 2011, €19.99, Baggot St Wines, D6 in Harold’s Cross, Deveney’s Dundrum, Jus de Vine in Portmarnock, Sweeney’s Glasnevin.

An interesting unoaked mix of Galicia’s key varieties Treixadura, Godello, Loureiro and Albarino that has good weight and a lime zest freshness too.

Coto de Gomariz The Flower and the Bee 2012, €16.99, Baggot St Wines, D6 in Harold’s Cross, Deveney’s Dundrum, Jus de Vine in Portmarnock.

A very different red from the Souson grape (called Souzao in Portugal). There’s a distinctive acidity that will challenge some palates but will work well with a great many foods.

Martin Moran MW, @winerepublic on twitter