As I mentioned last week, this will be our final weekly Zoom tasting, for now. We’re kicking around some ideas for the Fall and Winter, and we may do a few special online events here and there, but the weekly Zooms were really intended as something delicious to keep us engaged during the first December/January lockdown…then we just kinda continued through bad weather and the second lockdown. I believe this will be our 23rd weekly Zoom, almost 6 months! But now with all the pandemic bad winding down and the nice weather ramping up, it’s time for weekend cottages, camping, and BBQ’s with friends. We will still continue with weekly Capital Wine features for your summer drinking that can be picked up at the Byward Wine Market or ordered by the case for delivery directly to your home by Lifford, but it’s time to huddle around campfires, BBQ’s, and fishing spots instead of computer screens. And what better way to go out than with a nice lineup of dynamic Spanish whites!

Spain is one of the oldest winemaking countries in Europe, as well and one of the largest producing. Wine culture runs deep through every strata of society in Spain, and has for centuries. But most of Spain’s international fame has been tied up in the famous red wines of Rioja. So much so that the vast and diverse viticultural country that is Spain has become nearly synonymous with Rioja or just Tempranillo in general. For more on that Rioja and that history, check out the ALL ABOUT RIOJA feature a couple months ago. Even though Tempranillo is the most widely grown grape in Spain, there is so much more to Spain beyond Rioja and beyond red wines in general. Spanish whites are all the rage these days, and have been gaining more mainstream popularity in the last 5-10 years. They range from lazer sharp, mineral and fresh, to citrusy and herbaceous, to floral, honied and round…there’s even some epic desert wines from the mountains of Malaga in the very south that were formerly the wine of Kings back before the 19th century when wines like Tokai, Sauternes, Vin Santo, and Port ruled the wine world. This week we’re going to look at 4 different wines from 4 different regions, all made by top producers and really indicative of the regional styles.

PAZO SAN MAURO, ALBARINO, RIAS BIXAS
$32 per bottle at Byward Wine Market and Pan Chancho, or $27.99 x6 from Lifford Wines.
Rias Biaxas is the northwest corner of Spain, situated just above Portugal, directly on it’s northern border. It’s characterized by granite and schist soils with lots of warm sun and cool maritime weather. This works great for the region’s most famous grape, Albariño. Little known fact: Albariño was first brought to the region by French monks from Cluny and became the regional specialty. In the northern part of Rias Biaxas it is quite a bit cooler, several degrees latitude to the north and more influenced by the Atlantic Ocean surrounding on the north side and west side. The wines in this very cool climate often have some malolactic fermentation and more lees aging to round out the body and create a denser core to help balance all the really fresh, sharp acidity. But further south the climate is a bit warmer, just warm enough in fact that the Albariños don’t need the help of any malo to balance the acidity, they come into perfect balance on their own. And Pazo San Mauro is a vineyard in the sub zone of Condado de Tea on an estate that dates back to 1591. You can see Portugal across the river from the home vineyard. It’s a pretty exceptional vineyard and a pretty exceptional wine that Albariño fans will be interested to check out, but also just an all around delicious dry, mineral, citrus, floral white that is perfect for summer sipping, oysters, seafood, charcuterie…you know Spanish and Portugese kinda things.

MARCO ABELLA, ‘OLBIETA’, CATALUNYA
$35 per bottle at Byward Wine Market and Pan Chancho, 31.99 x6 from Lifford Wine
Marco Abella is a husband and wife team David and Olivia who created this biodynamic dream on the small Priorat vineyard David inherited from his grandfather. Since starting in 2008 they’ve reinvested everything into their operation and purchased more vineyards in the area so that everything they produce comes from their 7 estate vineyards. And everything except this beautiful blend of 55% White Grenache and 45% Macabeau carries the DOQ Priorat appelation. This is because these white grapes are not part of the the official Priorat appelation, so it is declaisfied to the larger Catalunya regional DO. But the quality here is extremely high: old vines, small quantities, biodynamic production. The result is some really pretty wines with white fruit, flowers, and minerality. Definitely a great wine to chill down and some soft cheese or even the classic prosciutto wrapped melon going with it. Borderline cliche, but probably THE perfect match for this wine.

TELMO RODRIGUEZ, GODELLO, VALDEORRAS
$28 per bottle at Byward Wine Market and Pan Chancho, $24.99 x12 from Lifford Wines
It will be hard for me to ever feature something from Spain and not include one of my winemaking heroes, Telmo Rodriguez. This is 100% Godello (pronounced Go-day-yo), which I think of like a Spanish version of something in the wheelhouse of Viognier, Rousanne, Grenache Blanc, or Picpoul. It’s richer, rounder, floral, but mineral and fresh too. It’s wild yeast fermentation, 4 months on the lees and stainless steel fermentation. This wine suffers no fools. It kicks asses and takes names. It’s a heartbreaker and fan-maker…especially when you consider the cost. Such a great value. Valdeorras is in the northwest of Spain, right next to Rias Biaxas, where we started today’s feature. These vines are all planted along the hillsides of the river Xil—who’s bridges are artfully depicted on the label. For more on how Telmo Rodriguez helped change the face of Spanish winemaking, click here.

BONUS WINE!
TELMO RODRIGUEZ, MOUNTAIN BLANCO, MALAGA
Sold out in Ontario, just a few bottles left at Byward Wine Market, $31 each
Why stop at just one Telmo Rodriguez wine??? At Christie’s first wine auction in 1769, Malaga wines were considered to be among the best in the world right alongside the best Burgundy and the Rhine. Its sweet wines have been the wine of Kings in previous centuries alongside Tokaij, Sauternes, Vin Santo, etc. The ‘Mountain Blanco’ is not a sweet wine, it’s a dry Muscat from up over 500m altitude in the Sierra de Malaga growing on old bush vines in traditional polycultures intermixed in olive groves. Telmo Rodrguez has made a career out of pioneering biodynamics in Spain and regenerating traditional viticulture all over the country. Manual hand harvest is the only possibility with grapes this remote from hillsides so steep. Grown at such altitude in stony schist soils gives the floral and honied Muscat grape lots of fresh acidity and minerality. Smells sweet and floral on the nose but drinks fresh, crisp and mineral. A pleasure for the senses. Sold out across Ontario, just a few bottles left in the Byward Wine Market. Treat yourself!

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The Byward Wine Market is fully open for in person shopping, as well as online orders offering curbside pickup or local delivery within Ottawa. Reach out if you have any questions, and check out the archive of past FEATURES if you’re interested in other recommendations. Lastly, please feel free to forward this to anyone in Ontario who may be interested in home wine delivery and follow us on Instagram for daily wine content at @bywardwinemarket!