Description

I hadn’t visited Rías Baixas for more than decade, but it’s been on my bucket list since
before the pandemic. In May this year, I finally got the chance to spend ten days in Galicia,
travelling from the border with Portugal to Ferrol in the north, tramping through vineyards,
talking to winemakers and, of course, nosing, swilling and spitting wines.

All in all, I tasted 260 of them from 60 different bodegas, including most of best and biggest
producers. I was so impressed by the quality and diversity of what I tasted that I wanted to
share my impressions with you, my subscribers.

This report illustrates the diversity of Rías Baixas, not just of the different styles of Albariño,
its most widely planted and celebrated grape, but also of its white blends, its reds and its
sweet wines. I have even included a sparkling wine.

There’s a good mixture of prices and availability. Inevitably, some of my top wines are only
produced in tiny volumes by superstars like Xurxo Alba, Rodri Méndez, Chico Moldes and
Eulogio Pomares, but there are plenty that are easy to find from large bodegas such as
Condes de Albarei, Mar de Frades, Martín Codax and Paco y Lola.

I hope you enjoy drinking these wines as much as I did selecting them. They really are
among Spain’s finest wines.

Tim Atkin MW