Adegas d’Altamira, Rias Baixas (Spain) Albariño ‘Seleccion’ 2005 ($25, Quintessential Imports): Albariño, the white wine 
from the Rias Baixas region, in northwestern Spain, seems to have come on even faster than Grüner Veltliner, Austria’s “hot” white wine. The appeal for wine drinkers is similar: both are vibrant, fresh, flavorful whites with character.
Apart from the wine’s taste appeal, the inside story of Albariño is fascinating for those who enjoy the technical side of winemaking and wine taste. The winemakers of Rias Baixas play with techniques such as skin contact, malolactic fermentation, and 
oak fermentation or aging to create the style of Albariño that they prefer. Some wines have none of the above and end up very crisp and moderately flavorful, while other wines, using some of these techniques, might be softer and more flavorful in style, or even tinged with oaky character. This range of techniques keeps Albariño, as a type, always a bit exciting and surprising, because when you taste one that you’re not familiar with, you’re not sure exactly what you might get.
When I first tried the Albariño “Seleccion” of Adegas d’Altamira, I discovered that it is precisely the style of Albariño that I prefer. It has the bracing acidity of a wine that has not undergone malolactic fermentation, and the flavor intensity of a wine whose juice was aromatically enhanced through contact with the grape skins. And it is not oaky.
Albariños range in price from about $12 to $30, and this wine therefore sits toward the high end of the scale. But its quality is commensurate with its price. It has very good concentration of apple, lemon and steely mineral aromas and flavors, and this concentration gives it real weight and presence in your mouth. But the wine is too compact to be called full-bodied, and weighs in on the high end of medium-bodied instead. Its texture is slightly oily but firm. Crisp acidity counterbalances the rich texture perfectly, giving the wine depth to match its weight. The effect, as the wine sits in your mouth, is like watching a tennis match, your attention shifting back and forth from the wine’s crispness and depth to its richness and weight, and back again.
Adegas Altamira is a third-generation Rias Baixas winery that boasts Albariño vines that are more than 70 years old, grown at 650-plus feet in altitude. But it was only in 2004 that the owners actually bottled their wine under their own labels. Their Albariño ‘Seleccion’ comes from vines that are more than 35 years old. The winery also makes Brandal Albariño ($15), which differs from the ‘Seleccion’ mainly in the vineyard sourcing; it is softer and less well-knit than the “Seleccion,” with even more flavor. In comparing the two wines, the ageworthy character of the ‘Seleccion’ becomes clear. I can imagine the ‘Seleccion’ drinking beautifully even five years from now, its freshness held firm by its vibrant acidity.
Adegas d’Altamira Albariño “Seleccion” has enough weight and flavor to pair with flavorful, fairly substantial foods. It’s great with grilled swordfish and will work also with veal or chicken paillard. It stands up to flavorful vegetables such as broccoli rabe, and embellished salads featuring red onions, feta cheese or berries.
90 Points