Rías Baixas

Rías Baixas: the home of Albariño

Forget the dry, hot Spain of the meseta. Rías Baixas, in green and rainy Galicia, makes one of the country's finest whites from the Albariño grape: fresh, aromatic and saline, grown almost within sight of the Atlantic. It is the wine the locals drink with the region's famous shellfish, and the pairing alone is worth the trip.

The wines

Albariño is crisp and aromatic, with stone fruit, citrus and a sea-spray salinity. The vines are often trained high on granite posts, called pergolas, to fight the damp, and the best wines have real texture and depth.

Where to go

The Salnés valley around Cambados is the heart of it, a short drive from the city of Pontevedra. The estuaries, the rías that give the region its name, run inland from the coast and the vineyards follow them.

Eat

This is one of Europe's great seafood coasts: octopus, razor clams, scallops and percebes, the prized goose barnacles. Cold Albariño with a plate of shellfish is the whole point.

Getting there

Fly into Santiago de Compostela or Vigo, then drive under an hour to the coast. A car helps for the spread-out estates along the estuaries.