Gallina de Piel, Ribeiro (Galicia, Spain) 2018

 Two sommeliers, one of whom, David Seijas, worked at El Bulli, named the best restaurant in the world five times by Restaurant magazine, founded Gallina de Piel (which transliterates as “chicken skin” from Spanish, the equivalent of “goose bumps” in colloquial English). They travel around Spain finding unique wines to bottle under that label.  It’s aptly named.  Their wines, especially this one, could induce that reaction.  Manar dos Seixas, an enlivening blend of typical Ribeiro grapes, Treixadura, Godello, Albariño, and Loureiro Blanco, is refreshing and startling—in a nice way.  It could give you goose bumps.  Saline and taut, it is piercing, yet not aggressive because it has wonderful concentration.  It finishes with a delightful and invigorating subtle bitterness.  This chiseled, angular wine screams for shellfish, but I wouldn’t be fussy.  Any fish, even a tomato-based fish stew, would do.