I’ve wanted to go to Galicia for some time
now, having lived close to a Galician community when in London for a couple of
years. They were so friendly and
passionate about their food and wine. I
also like Albariño, so that finally tipped the balance.
The Rias Baixas (pronounced ree-ahs
by-shuss, so as not to look foolish) are a series of Fiords which thrust out
into the Atlantic and form the Galician wine area in North West Spain, which is split into 5
subzones. One of them, the Val do Salnes
is reputedly the best and where we decided to base ourselves for our three day
trip.
Rias Baixas has its own DO (Denomination de Origen) which was only formed in1988. It is strictly regulated by the Spanish ‘Consejo
Regulador’. I constantly say “That bloke must have the
cushiest job”, not knowing whether it is one person or indeed a man. But anyway if he is, he goes round Rais
Baixas testing that the wine is typical of the area and good quality, before
handing out his strictly numbered stickers which need to go on the back of each
bottle
In terms of the journey, we flew to Porto and drove for a couple of hours North to get there. You can fly to Santiago or Viga but from the
UK you will need to transfer via Madrid or Barcelona. However, it is worth the trip, not least
because you will not have to share your winery visits with coach-loads of other folk
and the tours last for ages – around two hours including copious amounts of
tasting.
Also, I was delighted to find out that the
local’s were as warm, friendly and humble as the people I’d met in London. Constantly apologising for not having fantastic
English (which was pretty fantastic) and very grateful for the visit.
Coming from Lancashire (the home of the
Rochdale Pioneers), I was extremely keen to visit Paco & Lola – a co-operative made up of 428
family-growers. In this area, there are
lots and lots of small parcels of vines rather than acres grown by one family
or large business. Paco & Lola have
the most fantastic wine packaging I’ve ever seen and it will make the inside of
your fridge door look like Selfridges if you buy enough bottles!
The name is interesting too, apparently Paco is short for Francisco! (the most
popular boys name in Spain) and Lola short for Delores, also a common
name.
The inside of their office looks like a
scene from Charlie and The Chocolate Factory.
Polka dots are everywhere from
the welcome mat to the frosted glass doors.
Being such a large co-operative makes them
one of the top three wineries in the area in terms of volume.
They have a range of different brands to suit the domestic, UK and American
markets. http://www.pacolola.com/eng/e_home.html
They also supply Albariño to Asda under
their ‘Asda Signature’ range, so make sure you hunt that one out. But their premium Paco & Lola Albariño is
mainly sold in independent retailers.
As you would expect from the wine, it is
aromatic, fresh and zingy with aromas of citrus and white stone fruit. It is usually very dry with fantastic acidity
and minerality.
The wine has some contact with the lees, which are the dead yeast cells
(3 months generally) which do impart some additional flavours and extra
interest. Read more about that here: http://www.winewisdom.com/articles/techie/lees-ageing/
We were fortunate enough to be shown around
by the delightful export Manager Carolina Rouco Chao (pictured below) and her colleague. We had a fantastic visit, despite having to
wear a white coat and hair net!
For those who might be thinking ‘style over
content’, I would disagree. This wine tastes
good and looks great. It is also (in my view) a far more appealing option to other ‘fresh,
simple whites’ on the shelves and is fantastic with anything fishy as well as
being a great summer quaffing wine.
Carolina explained the military precision required
in organising the delivery of grapes at harvest time when over 400 grower
families turn up to deposit their small yields.
However, they are not allowed to leave until the grapes have been
analysed to check they are of the required quality, levels of sugar and
acidity. What a day that must be!
I salute the ethos of the winery – think
Rochdale Pioneers minus the clogs and all dressed in black and white polka
dots. In a country which is suffering
financially, Albariño is a good news story and is deservedly on most restaurant wine
lists and supermarket shelves these days.
If only they did green shield stamps…..
http://www.riasbaixaswines.com/media/interactive.php
