Orballo Albariño 2007

By mthomas

This Albariño from Virgin Wines demonstrates many of the standards of the Rías Baixas style without being outstanding in any way. It is well balanced with a good level of acidity making it zesty and invigorating. It has lots of characteristics of the grape variety, and terroir, such as white peach and almond as well as pear drops, and herbacious notes. The Atlantic facing south of Galicia in Spain produces pretty consistent examples of Albariño and the 2007s I have tasted from here have all been enjoyable. My favourite so far though is Albariño D Fefinades 2007 which has another level of complexity and lovely olive and aniseed flavours. It took me back to my time teaching in Seville and would be perfect with a selection of tapas, especially prawns. It also exhibits deeper minerality and longer finish than the Orballo but is a bit more expensive (although I picked up some at a discount in a bin end in Waitrose Canary Wharf). The Fefinades compares well with a mid-range Riesling and is worth the outlay to set yourself a tasting benchmark for this area and style.