Quinta de Couselo Albarino 2020

It’s remarkable how simple local cuisine pairs so well with local wines. True – in most of Europe – the two have been co-developing and intermingling for around a thousand years. Winegrowers – perhaps unconsciously – preferenced wine varieties and winemaking techniques that made grandmother’s cooking even better.

The perfect marriage of wine and cuisine may be found in the tiny winegrowing region of Rias Baixas along the Spanish Galician coast. Basically isolated until the 90’s, miniscule family vineyards have been tended for generations with the sole purpose of pairing with the region’s inimitable seafood. 

It’s here that – in the southernmost tip of the Rias Baixas – in tiny O Rosal – that we find Quinta de Couselo where they have been making wine since the estate was acquired by Cisterian Monks in 1163. O Rosal is perfectly situated – directly across Minho from Portugal in the Southeast – but still highly influenced by the temperate maritime influence of it’s Atlantic ocean marking its Western border. 

The Albarino grown here is phenomenal, electric. Minerally, with a touch of saline courtesy of the cool Atlantic Ocean breeze and tropical notes of pineapple, mango and a tantalizing, lingering finish.