Albarino (NY Times, 4/28/04)

WINES OF THE TIMES; The Iberian Nights: A Light, Breezy Tale

By ERIC ASIMOV (NYT) 1330 words
Published: April 28, 2004

Correction Appended

BETWEEN the blooms of mid-April and the usual summer sweatbox, a narrow window opens for outdoor dining in New York. Whether in restaurant, yard or park, this is the opportunity to soak in the seaside breezes, to bathe in the whitewashed light, to fantasize about an indolent life where decisions come no harder than whether to turn over or sit up.

These moments call for the sort of crisp, lively white wines that give a bracing lift to shellfish and light seafood dishes or at least pave the way for the reds to follow. No shortage of these types of wines, luckily. Sancerre is a natural, its chilled bottle sweating in the sunlight, and so is its pungent sauvignon blanc cousin from New Zealand. There is tocai Friuliano and roussanne and muscadet, of course, and any number of wines from all over Italy. Not least among this group is the Iberian wine known as albariño in the tiny Rías Baixas region of Galicia in northwestern Spain and as alvarinho across the border to the south in northwestern Portugal.

''They're Iberia's answer to muscadet,'' said Florence Fabricant, my colleague on the Dining section's wine panel, which tasted 24 albariños, as I will arbitrarily call the collection.

I knew exactly what she meant in her comparison. But while good muscadet has a deliciously yeasty quality, it is neutral-smelling. Albariño, by contrast, can be explosively aromatic, full of easily detectable floral, mineral and citrus scents. It can be both creamy in texture and highly acidic, which gives it the vibrant freshness to match, say, ceviche, or grilled octopus. Yet that acidity can also make albariño seem a little harsh as an aperitif. As Amanda Hesser, my other colleague on the panel, put it, ''they're built for food.''

We were joined by a guest, Tarcisio Costa, the wine director at Alfama, a Portuguese restaurant in Greenwich Village. Mr. Costa was disappointed that 19 of our bottles were Spanish, but we are bound by what we find in retail shops, and the Portuguese alvarinhos are much rarer. Nonetheless, our top wine was Portuguese, the 2002 Portal do Fidalgo, an exceptionally pure, light-bodied and delicious wine. At $10 a bottle, it was also our best value. To me, the Portal do Fidalgo was a consummate outdoor wine, which refreshes and whets the appetite.

One other Portuguese bottle made our list, the 2001 Quinta do Dorado at No. 9, and we liked it despite what it represented. Most albariños, in both Spain and Portugal, are fermented and stored briefly in stainless steel tanks, which preserve the freshness and fruitiness of the grape. A small percentage of winemakers, though, have experimented with aging albariño in small barrels made of new oak, a procedure evident in a glass of Quinta do Dorado. There, the winemakers have done it skillfully. The oak treatment adds a sort of creamy cushion to the wine that is not disagreeable, yet it is a softer, less lively wine, perhaps more suited for indoors or for winter.

Paradoxically, the wine is labeled vinho verde, or green wine, referring not to color but to youth. Vinhos verdes are meant to be zesty and inconsequential, not like the Quinta do Dorado, which at $20 was the most expensive of our top 10.

Apart from this one oak-scented bottle, I divided the wines into two categories. Some, like the Portal do Fidalgo, were as light and fine as summer sundresses. Others were more robust, like our No. 2 bottle, the 2002 Laxas from Rías Baixas (pronounced REE-ez BUY-shez), and especially our No. 3, the 2002 Casal Caeiro. These were more substantial wines, filled with lush aromas, yet they retained their lively acidity and never tasted hot or alcoholic. Most of these wines were around 12 percent alcohol, quite a bit lighter than, say, California chardonnays, which these days are rarely less than 14 percent.

One of the more slender albariños, the 2002 Granbazan, did strike me as a good aperitif, perhaps because it did not seem quite so bone dry as some of the others, which helped to balance the acidity.

Most of the wines in our tasting, and 8 of our top 10, were 2002's. It makes sense to drink wines like these only in their youth, and I would not buy anything older than a 2002 this spring or summer. Yet this does not mean that a few more years of age will harm them. In fact, age can give some bottles a mellow, nutty flavor. But I would suggest buying a young bottle and aging it yourself if you have a cool storage place, rather than buying an older bottle in a shop that might not pay much attention to albariño storage.

Albariño producers are certainly not household names, but the best-known label to many Americans, Martin Códax, was not in our tasting. Códax apparently lost its American importer and has not reached an agreement with another one, so you are not likely to find anymore for now. Sharp-eyed wine lovers might point out that our No. 10 albariño, Burgans, is an entry-level label owned by Martin Códax, but it is a 2001, clearly a leftover, which still showed well. For Martin Códax, there's always next spring.

Tasting Report: With Albariños, Bouquet Is Really a Bouquet

BEST VALUE
Portal do Fidalgo Portugal 2002: $10 *** [Rating: three stars]
Succulent, vivacious and pure, lively and complex. The kind of wine you want to keep drinking, from a new consortium of growers.

Laxas Rías Baixas 2002: $15 *** [Rating: three stars]
Big, yet acidic enough to feel fresh and lively, with aromas of flowers and peaches and a creamy texture.

Casal Caeiro Rías Baixas 2002: $15 *** [Rating: three stars]
Dense and substantial, with lush aromas of pineapple and honey and crisp flavors that linger in the mouth.

Pablo Padin Rías Baixas: $14 *** [Rating: three stars]
Segrel 2002
Gorgeous fragrances of nuts, flowers and peaches. Both fruity and steely in the mouth, courtesy of fine acidity.

Terras Gauda Abadia de San Campio: $16 ** 1/2 [Rating: two and a half stars]
Rías Baixas 2002
Deep and substantial, almost like a viognier, with rich aromas of lemons, pears and flowers. Complex, persistent flavors.

Torre Fornelos: $14 ** 1/2 [Rating: two and a half stars]
Rías Baixas 2002
Juicy and inviting, with pure, clear flavors of peaches and apricots. Not complex but delicious.

Granbazan Rías Baixas 2002: $18 ** 1/2 [Rating: two and a half stars]
Flavors of flowers and minerals, with lively acidity. Nice as an aperitif.

Nora Rías Baixas 2002: $15 ** 1/2 [Rating: two and a half stars]
Pleasant and fresh with a slender texture, good acidity and lively citrus and mineral flavors.

Quinta do Dorado Vinho Verde: $20 ** [Rating: two stars]
Portugal 2001
Unusual in that oak aging is evident, yet it is restrained, adding a creamy texture and a slight sweetness.

Burgans Rías Baixas 2001: $12 ** [Rating: two stars]
Snappy and tangy with citrus and peach flavors. Drink well chilled.

WHAT THE STARS MEAN
(None) Pass it by
* Passable
** Good
*** Excellent
**** Extraordinary

Correction: May 12, 2004, Wednesday The Wines of The Times column on April 28, about Iberian albariños, referred incorrectly to one of the wines, a 2001 Quinta do Dorado, from Portugal. It is not representative of the small percentage of albariños aged in barrels of new oak, and that process is not evident in its taste; like most albariños, it is stored only in stainless steel before bottling.