Albariño

Galicia's seafood white — saline, peachy, mineral.

Albariño is the signature white of Spain's Rías Baixas in Galicia, planted on the rainy Atlantic coast on granitic soils. Wines are dry, medium-bodied, and notably saline, with stone fruit (peach, nectarine), citrus, and a salt-spray minerality that pairs naturally with the local octopus and shellfish. Across the border in Portugal it is Alvarinho, the leading grape of premium Vinho Verde from Monção e Melgaço. New World plantings in California and Oregon have grown steadily.