by Nicolette L. Cagle, June 14, 2026
The first time I knowingly tasted Albariño (Alvarinho) was over a decade ago in a blend produced by Bedell Cellars, a winery on the North Fork of Long Island, New York. The wine had a floral nose and notes of grapefruit, influenced in part by the Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier with which the Albariño was blended. The next year, I tried a single-variety wine from the Vinho Verde region of Portugal, produced by Anselmo Mendes, yielding nectar and green apple, and finishing clean. Over the years, I’ve tasted this variety in other American blends, in Rorick Heritage Vineyards (Calaveras County, California) Queen of the Sierra, 2020 and a Biltmore Estate’s blend.
More recently, I’ve been able to move back toward Albariño’s heartland, sampling it in Manual Formigo’s Ribeiro Blanco 2022 unctuous, fruit-forward blend, and last night, I tasted a true gem, Nanclares y Prieto ‘O Bocoi Vello’ Albariño 2024, provided by Mateo x Nanas x Mothers Wine Club.
Albariño’s historic home is the Iberian Peninsula, with deep traditions in Spain and Portugal, where it is known variously as Albariño, Alvarinho, Albelleiro, Alvarin Blanco, Azal Blanco, Galego, Rosal, and beyond. Albariño is one of the region’s oldest varieties, and sometime in the early 2000s, 300-year-old vines were found in Galicia, suggesting that it has been cultivated there at least since the early 1700s (Boso et al. 2005). More recent work by Boso et al. (2020) suggests that Albariño has been grown in Galicia since Roman times, based on morphometric similarity to seeds found at Ancient Roman archaeological sites in Galicia.
According to Robinson et al. (2012), some of the best Iberian Albariño includes notes ranging from linden to dried orange peel, green apple to bergamot. This is what I found in Nanclares y Prieto ‘O Bocoi Vello’ Albariño 2024 from Rías Baixas, Galicia, a revelation of bergamot and sea air, better described by Mateo x Nanas x Mothers Wine connoisseurs as “ripe peach, dried lemon peels, oyster shell, raw almond, and wild herb.”
While Albariño pairs well with food, best known for its synergism with seafood and wakame, cheesy risottos and Spanish tapas, it is also one of the few wines that complements asparagus, Vietnamese vermicelli, and Korean dakgalbi (spicy chicken with veggies). This versatility is born from chemistry. Albariño is a high acid wine that shapeshifts with production methods. Some producers eke out the elegant notes of nuts and citrus peel from the phenols of its thick skin. Others prioritize fruit and freshness, avoiding aging on the lees, bringing out powerful monoterpenes that produce floral (think: honeysuckle) and sweet fruit (think: mandarin oranges), and proffering notes of nectarines and lime. Both styles can reveal characteristic and complex notes of beeswax and salinity.
The majority of Albariño is produced in Spain, with greater than 13,000 acres (> 5,000 ha) in Galicia. Much of that is grown near the estuaries of the coastal region in Galicia’s southwest, known as Rías Baixas. It is also well-known in Portugal with more than 7,000 acres (> 2,500 ha) in nearby Vinho Verde, Portugal. Galicia in particular is known for its verdant lushness, bisected by four major rivers (Arousa, Muros y Noia, Pontevedra, and Vigo). This high moisture environment could make Albariño susceptible to downy and powdery mildew, which is known to affect it, but growers tend to raise these vines off the ground on wine on trellises supported by granite blocks (AKA paras), allowing a drying breeze to flow above and below the vines. Albariño also prefers well-drained soil, thriving on granitic and sandy soil underlying the region’s rolling hills.
Elsewhere, Albariño is being grown along California’s coastline (between Monterrey and Santa Barbara), Uruguay, New Zealand, and Australia (but watch out, some Australian Albariño was found to be Savagnin Blanc!). In North Carolina, several vineyards are growing Albariño. Saint Paul Mountain Vineyards, in Hendersonville NC, has a 2024 Albariño that recently won Best in Show at the NC Wine Competition. Other North Carolina award winning Albariños come from Sanctuary Vineyards, in Jarvisburg (Outer Banks of North Carolina) and Surry Cellars, associated with Surry Community College.
Next time you have the chance, visit your local wine shop and explore Iberia, California, and maybe even wines from your own home state or territory, through an ancient wine that offers freshness and complexity, particularly on a hot and humid summer day in North Carolina.
References
Boso, S., Santiago, J. L., Vilanova, M. and Martinez, M-C. (2005). Caractéristiques ampélographiques et agronomiques de différents clones du cultivar Albariño (Vitis vinifera L.), Bulletin de l’OIV 78, 889-90:143-158.
Boso, S., P. Gago, J. L. Santiago, A. Teira-Brion, and M. Martin-Sejio. (2020). Morphometric comparison of current, Roman-era and medieval Vitis seeds from the north-west of Spain. Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research, 26(3): 300-309.
Mateo x Nanas x Mothers staff. May 2026. Wine Club May 2026.
Mercedes, H. (n.d.) Albariño (Alvarinho). WineFolly. Available at https://winefolly.com/grapes/albarino/
Robinson, J., J. Harding, and J. Vouillamoz. (2012). Wine Grapes. HarperCollins Publishers.
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