If you’re an aficionado of the crisp Spanish white albariño, you’d be forgiven for thinking that’s all Galicia has to offer, but there are two other quite different wines from this large region to look out for.
The first is godello (or godayo, as the locals pronounce it), an expressive white that tastes, when oaked, a bit like a cross between white bordeaux and top-class chardonnay. The best come from the dramatically beautiful Valdeorras region, which winemaker Rafael Palacios believes has the capacity to produce Spain’s best white wine. His seductively creamy Louro Godello 2014 (£17 The Good Wine Shop; 13.5% abv) is a great place to start. With a few exceptions – Telmo Rodriguez’s lush Gaba do Xil Godello Valdeorras 2014 (£8.75 The Wine Society, £11.25 The Good Wine Shop; 13% abv) among them – you need to pay over £10 to get the full godello experience, because cheaper bottles tend to be merely sauvignon blanc drinkalikes.
The other grape variety is mencia, which I mentioned in my barbecue recommendations a month ago and which may well be my new favourite restaurant red. Its heartland is the Bierzo region, where in a good year it produces seductively fruity, cherry-flavoured reds that will appeal if you like cru beaujolais and the Loire’s cabernet franc. The most easily accessible – and affordable – example is the exuberantly juicy Pizarras de Otero Bierzo Mencia 2014 (currently on offer at Majestic for £6.66, down from the usual £9.99, if you buy two or more bottles; 13% abv), but I also love two charming Petit Pittacums, a tinto and a rosado: both are £9.06 at Les Caves de Pyrène and £11.99 The Smiling Grape, and both are 13.5% abv. Do also look out for wines from the inspiring but eccentric Raul Perez: try the wild, raunchy El Castro de Valtuille Mencia Joven 2013 (£10.20 Yorkshire Vintners, £10.50 The Good Wine Shop, and other indies; 13% abv), which he makes for Castro Ventosa and is packed with delicious, dark berry flavours.
Be prepared, however, for a fair bit of variation between these wines and vintages. Galicia is notoriously wet and windy, and some years, such as 2013, are more challenging than others, so grab any opportunity to try them by the glass.
