Spain: North-West, including Albariño
2015: Gold 3 Silver 5 Bronze 3 Commended 4
2014: Gold 4 Silver 8 Bronze 3 Commended 5
Last year, we managed a perfectly balanced range of wines for our Gold List from north-west Spain: a red, two Albariños and a Godello. This year, with some notable exceptions, the results weren’t quite so positive – and nor was the feedback.
It is, perhaps, the problem of a marginal climate – that results are rarely consistent. And while there was a lot of pre-tasting affection for Galicia, the wines generally didn’t deliver enough for that love to survive to the results stage. Many of the Albariños, in particular, were felt to be rather underwhelming, too many of the reds out of balance and rather ‘hard’.
FOOTNOTE: Includes wine from Galicia, Valdeorras & Bierzo.
From the Tasting Teams
‘Quite a few of the Albariños were either thin or watery, so I was wondering if it might be a vintage issue?’ Christophe Richelet, consultant sommelier
‘I was pleasantly surprised by the [non-Albariño] whites. They really held their own, with great character and a lot of very individual character coming through. The top end, especially, showed really well.’ Michael Moore, Room 24
‘When the reds didn’t work it’s because they weren’t distinctive enough. We were looking for distinctive, non-Tempranillo wines and modern winemaking. I don’t think we saw enough of that.’ Martin Lam, team leader
‘The whites were really good food wines, with attractive aromatics and also some minerality, which you don’t always expect from Spain. People are excited enough about Spain, so I’m not sure these would even need a hand-sell.’ Jade Koch, team leader
‘We were trying to get beyond wines that were too angular. The reds that made it to medal were the ones that were well integrated and had a good sense of place.’ James Hocking, The Vineyard Group