Galicia

Galicia is a large region of Spain occupying the northwest corner by the sea. Many of the wines go with seafood. And, Galicia has five major wine regions which are Rías Baixas, Ribeiro, Ribeira Sacra, Valdeorras, and Monterrei. The wines of Galicia are light, fragrant, and acid-driven. Ribeiro and Rias Baixas are the two major wine producing areas in Galicia.

The Rias Baixas Region

This region houses the amazing white wine albarino. It is pronounced ree-us-BUY-shus. Albarino is pronounced al-ba-REEN-yo. It has 5 sub-regions as you see in the map. And, it accounts for more than 90% of wines from the region. Also, some other grape varieties include torrontes and godello. Torrontes wines are more popular from Argentina. The typical style of albariño from Rías Baixas is aromatic and acid driven. Sometimes, sommeliers describe it as viognier on the nose and riesling on the palate. See some examples below. They are great bargains at less than $15 per bottle. Also, do not expect examples from other countries to be the same or as good.

The Ribeiro Region

White wine represents about 95% of the wine produced in the Ribeiro area. And, the main variety is the Treixadura grape. See some examples below. The first is a blend of white grapes primarily with Treixadura. The label lists the grapes. I love that! Traditionally, they list from most to least. And, the second is a rare red wine from Ribeiro. It is Tinto which signifies a red wine. The wine has the grapes Brancellao, Caíño Tinto, Ferrol, Sousón and Garnacha Tintorera. If you are lucky, your wine store carries these.

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