- Welcome to Rías Baixas. - [Vince] The jagged cliffs of northwest Spain make a stunning backdrop for our episode in Rías Baixas, the wine region at the heart of Galicia. Its many ports and fisheries provide some of the most irresistible seafood on the planet. Quaint towns are scattered all along the region. Steep cliffs lead to beaches. Cold crashing sea waters connect to calm rivers. And everywhere you go, the scent of green Celtic forest mixed with salty air follows you. Most importantly, Rías Baixas is the only true home to one of my favorite white wines of all time, Albariño. Get ready to learn all about Albariño on a trip to what they call Green Spain on this episode of "V is for Vino!" - Our journey starts here in the largest city of the region, Vigo. This city pretty much revolves around its port. It's home to the largest fishing fleet in all of Europe, which is the backbone to the region's fresh seafood, as well as canning and freezing. And is a great place to start our journey. But where exactly are we? When most people think of Spain, they think of Madrid and Barcelona, but this is a completely separate part of Spain and it feels different, too. There's a few terms to know for this area: Galicia, Northwest Spain, Green Spain, and Rías Baixas. Let's break 'em all down. Galicia is a region in Northwest Spain, similar to a state in the US. And while Vigo has the largest population of the region, Galicia's capital is actually the famous Santiago de Compostela, which we'll chat about later. Galicia is also part of what is known as Green Spain, which includes all of Northern Spain. It's called this because the Atlantic helps keep lush, green pastures and forests, which means this area feels more like Ireland or the UK than the hot, dry terrain of much of the rest of Spain. This area is stormy and romantic with rocky coastlines, and cliffs, and Celtic ruins and castles throughout the region. The Celtic tribes that once populated this region left behind an Irish footprint that's still prominent today. Their traditions, festivals, ruins, and even the language. This part of Spain has two official languages, Spanish and Galician. And while this is all fascinating history, we're here today to talk about something different, the wine region of Rías Baixas. Yes, it's pronounced Rías Baixas and once you get the hang of it, it rolls off the tongue. I promise. Rías Baixas is an area within Galicia and what's known as a DO, or Denominación de Origen. A DO is similar to an AOC in France, or DOC in Italy. It's Spain's version of a system that regulates geographic, grape, and quality controls. Rías Baixas has within it five sub-regions. In order to be called a Rías Baixas wine, you need to grow your grapes in one of these areas, and adhere to the other DO requirements. The region name means Lower Rías, lower because there's a separate area up north called Rías Altas or Upper Rías, and Rias, which means fjord or inlet. Rías Baixas has four of these major inlets coming in from the sea. These inlets are unique because they mix the sea water of the ocean with the freshwater of the rivers they connect to, which makes for one of the richest habitats in the world when it comes to marine life, and accordingly, a huge diversity of seafood. This water also has a huge effect on the terroir of the region. So that one of the most exciting, best pairing, clean, fresh white wines on the planet can grow and thrive. I'm talking about Albariño. And since these two things compliment each other so well, Albariño and seafood, that is, I figure we should spend a good amount of time on this trip, gettin' to know both. Most people believe that Albariño is an indigenous grape to this region. What's indisputable is that it's the spiritual home of the grape. It's grown almost nowhere else in the world. And even when replicated, it's here in Rías Baixas that the best examples are made. To figure out why that is, I went to Cambados, a city 20 miles north of Vigo that's known as the Albariño wine capital. Here, I met Katia Álvarez from Martín Códax Winery. - Welcome to Cambados, the Albariño city. Here is where the Albariño started to plant it years ago. I think this is the heart of the Salnés Valley, Cambados. - And there's a big festival here, right? - [Katia] Yeah, yeah, yeah. The first weekend of . there are a competition between the different wineries looking for the best wine of the year. - [Vince] Okay. - And in this competition that is, is important. And it's hard because there are more than 100 Albariños and people from other regions, people that is specialized in wines, come here and taste the wine to choose the best Albariño of the year. - Albariño, you know, they do make it other places. You know, you can find Albariño, I've even seen some in California now, but Rías Baixas is really, I think, the home of it, right? - Yeah, it's really different Albariño from here than any other Albariño from other regions. The first thing, the place, the climate. Here, we have a very Atlantic influenced climate in where we have a lot of precipitation. - Yeah, a lotta rain and it's a little rainy. It was rainy this morning. We had to wait for the sun to come out. - Exactly, exactly. We have rain, we have mild temperatures because the ocean have influencing the temperature. Also we have a good soil because we have a soil that is 100% . Very sandy soil. - So the sandy soils can drain out all of that liquid that would otherwise be tough. The vines would get waterlogged. - Exactly, so this is really important. I think the blame between the varietal, the climate, the soil, and the way to grow the Albariño is what made da Albariño from Rías Baixas different. When we think about Spain, you think about the drier Spain, you know? But Cambados is in the north, in Galicia in the northwest coast of Spain, so this is the Green Spain. - Yeah. - It's total different. - Completely different. When I think of a lot of Spain wine regions, I think of a hot, almost desert climate. Then you come here and it's lush. I mean, we were driving in yesterday and I didn't have any expectations. It's beautiful. You get these beautiful hills. It's green and lush everywhere you go. It's really, really special. Do you wanna head to the winery? - Of course. - All right, let's do it. - I hope so. - [Vince] The oldest region of Rías Baixas is Val do Salnés, which holds two-thirds of its wineries, and that's where Martín Códax is located. Before we taste it though, Katia set up a little demo for me that was the perfect intro to Albariño. - [Vince] This is, this is incredible. What is, so what is this? - This is a easy way to explain how the Albariño smell. - [Vince] Yeah and this is awesome. I mean, this is a great way to kind of learn the basics about Albariño. So the flower component is really big in this wine. The white flowers, I think, is very, very typical in this wine. - [Katia] And then the citrus character. - [Vince] Lots of citrus. - When you have more fresh Albariño the lemon is very present. It's a more ripened de Albariño the orange is also... orange pomelo. - You have flowers, you have the citrus. I have to imagine if it's maybe a little bit riper, it would get to some of the stone fruit? - It depends on the year. Or even taking into account the selection of grapes that you use to make the wine. You can have more ripened flavors. And if you make aging over the lees, you can go into the water, or into the Baixas flavor. - So if you get these kind of buttery character, that's more if you're doing lees aging, which is a style. - Or malo, malolactic fermentation that in the Salnés Valley is really useful. The anise, for example, is very typical in the Albariño. - Even, even without oak. - Exactly, in young wines. When you make the fermentation in oak is when you can find the vanilla, the cinnamon, I think. And this is chamomile? - Chamomile tea. - So that is also really present in the young Albariño. - Okay. - Now we are talking about the Albariño from the Salnés Valley, that is seeing where the citrus character, the apple, and the influence of the ocean, the saltiness is present. But if you go from Albariño to other regions in Rías Baixas, you can feel also another kind of flavor. - Yes, this is why I came here. - For the Albariño, of course. - Yes, and all of it. - Some of the seafood that we grow in our rías is important, the cockles, the clams, the octopus, the oysters. Also the salmon with avocado. So it's something that go perfect with Albariño. And we can't forget the cheese from Galicia. - That's all local cheese. - Exactly. - [Vince] Very good. All right. Well, let's get into the wine. As you mentioned, fresh white flowers, so bright. - So in Martín Códax, we can see all the things that we see before. The white flowers, the citrus character is really present, the lemon, the lemon zest. - Slightly bright bitter lemon, rather than like a super ripe juicy. So lemon zest is perfect. - And then it's the apple, the pear, and also with a lot of saltiness that gives more personality to the wine. And then what's important is when you taste the wine it's fresh, the seed is present, but it's soft. - It's a little creamy. - It's creamy because we work with malo fermentation. - Okay. - So this is important to achieve this balance in the mouth. - Like I would expect a wine with this fruit character. I would expect the acidity to be more-- - Aggressive. _ I guess harsh. Yeah. Abrasive. Exactly. But no, it's not it at all. - [Vince] The vineyards in Rías Baixas are unique. While there are around 200 wineries, there's over 5,500 growers, many of whom have small family plots of land passed down from generation to generation. The winemakers and the wine growers really have an intimate relationship in this region. So you work with local families and growers. - All of them, all of them. 300 families. And it's one half-- - 300? - It's amazing. In fact, you can see that there are very small, eh, plots, blending with the houses. It's a big challenge, but also it's an opportunity because in all of this family, we can achieve very special plots. - You're a very well known winery from this region, but the fact that you still continue to work with local growers-- - Yeah. - Is very, very awesome. This is about as good an intro to Albariño as I could have possibly asked for. Thank you so much. - It's a pleasure. Thank you. - [Vince] 99% of wine made in Rías Baixas is white, and 90% of that is Albariño. So yeah, it's a big deal here. It's a grape that's uniquely adapted to this region. Not just any grape can thrive in these sorts of rainy seaside conditions. It'd be like someone from Arizona transplanted to Seattle. They'd prefer drier weather. Wet conditions lead to mold and rot in the vines and grapes. But for a few reasons, Albariño does great here despite the rain. The first reason is that it's native here to Rías Baixas, so it has naturally evolved over time to withstand these conditions. The second reason is the well draining granite and shift soils that prevent the water from rotting the roots. Third--ocean breezes and lots of sunshine between rains that help keep the vines dry. And fourth? You're looking at it. These wire trellises are called perras, and they help keep the grapes off the ground and in the breeze so they can stay nice and cool. Albariño is defined by three characteristics. First is its high acidity, which helps keep it fresh, bright, and clean. Second is its minerality and salinity. Think ocean spray and pebbles. Third is something called phenolic bitterness, which provides a slight bitter finish and length to the wine. This comes from its unusually thick skins, and similar to the bitter we experience in citrus peels or raw almond. Then you've got wonderful fruit flavors. Citrus like lemon and grapefruit, melon and honeydew, stone fruits like peach, and nectarine, and honeysuckle. When you combine it all, you end up with a wine that is perfect for drinking on its own, like an aperitif, or with food... especially seafood. The traditional style of Albariño is done in stainless steel and drunk young. But as this region evolves, you've got modern wine makers using lees aging to round out the wine, barrel fermentation to give the wine creaminess and structure, people aging the wine five years or more, and some even making sparkling versions. Furthermore, many of these wine makers are women. Over 50%! And this actually goes back to tradition. Back in the day, men were often away fishing at sea. So the women had to hold down the fort in the vineyards. - [Vince] History buffs will find plenty to see and do in Rías Baixas. From the Romans to the Celtics, to the Spanish. This region has the remnants of thousands of years of history, if you know where to look, Castro de Santa Trega is one such place. It's an old Celtic Fort in the Southwest of the region. And with sweeping panoramic views of the Atlantic, the cities nearby, and the Minho River, it feels pretty magical. It was just the right place to meet local Erick García, to chat about the history of this region. - Well, today we are in the Monte Santa Tecla. It's a very old mountain. Place has been inhabited for thousand of year before Christ. The remains we have here are from the Bronze Era. The people used to, to build this kind of houses, surrounded by a wall, which protect us from the enemy. This kind of city was always built in the very top of the mountain so they can see, you know, the enemies coming. - [Vince] Sure. - The Celtic culture influenced this area. And that's why we have some part of their culture here, because they travel here. Also the Phoenicians, the Romans. - So this region has really seen everybody kind of come and go. - Yeah, it's true. It's true. It's like a mix of cultures here. - Now from a wine perspective, this mountain actually has some influence on the wine too. - We are in O Rosal Valley, one of the five super regions of Rías Baixas. This is all a valley where we have the Atlantic Ocean in the west, the Minho River in the south that is split the north of Portugal from the south of-- - Yeah, you can see Portugal. - This valley. - It's right over there. - Exactly. Yeah exactly. Portugal is right in front. So this mountain help us to protect us from the mist, which is coming from the ocean. - And you can see all this fog and mist that's kind of in this area. - It's quite a lot of mist, and it's important to keep it away from the vineyards, you know, because we are already in a place that is very damp. We have a lot of humidity, so it's important to keep it away. There are some records that we have been making wines here for centuries, and Albariño has been produced here for centuries. - Erick represents Adegas Valmiñor, which makes wine in the O Rosal region of Rías Baixas. It borders the Minho River and Portugal, is known for being a bit warmer than the other sub-regions, and also blending Albariño with other local grapes. In addition to wine tasting, I also apparently signed up to go off-roading because Erick pulled up in a Jeep, specifically, a 1988 Land Rover Santana. - What is this? - [Erick] Well, this is a very old truck. It's the first brand that Land Rover allowed to produce in Spain. At the very beginning, they start to produce this car for the Spanish army. - It looks like an army car. Am I getting in? - [Erick] Yeah, sure. Come in. - Let's do it! - [Vince] Feeling like true Spaniards, we headed in our re-purposed combat vehicle uphill. After a bumpy ride, we arrived at our tasting. - [Vince] First question I have is explain to me the symbol you kinda have for your logo. It's on the wine. What is it? - As I told you already, we are very influenced by the Celtic culture. We decided to create a kind of logo with the four elements we need for the vine growing, which are the rain, the sun, the earth, and the air. - Okay. Okay, great. - [Erick] So those are Celtic symbols of the four elements. - [Vince] What makes O Rosal special? - Well, first of all, O Rosal, it's a kind of valley. We receive more hours of sunlight, which allow us to have a better ripening of the grape. - Oh wow. Roses and Jasmine on the nose right away. - [Erick] It's really floral! - It's really floral, really fun and floral. - It's one of the main feature of Albariño from this area. We are using autochthonous yeast. This is a special yeast that give us this kind of aromas. We also have some citric notes as well. - I do get the citrus notes. I get some, I get some orange, maybe orange peel or juicy, like juicy ripe oranges. - Orange peel here. Yeah. I also get some salty notes in the mouth. - Usually when I think of high acid wines, I think of lighter, right? But what's nice about this is you still get that acidity, but you get a juicy, ripe wine, which is a really nice blend. And it is surprisingly, oh, I had a wine yesterday. We were at Martin Kodak's yesterday, and it is different from that wine. - [Vince] Erick had brought his friend, Augustine, from Araya Grande restaurant nearby who brought, what else? More seafood. - I love it. More seafood. - Cockles I had yesterday. I love the cockles. And that's something that I don't see often in the states. - We have some baby shrimps. This is super typical from here. And we got some barnacles. The barnacles, perhaps this is the most typical food here in-- - [Vince] The barnacles are? - [Erick] in Galicia. Yeah, because it grows in the rocks where the waves crash against the heels. So it's very difficult to harvest, to take. That's why it's so precious dish here in Galicia. - [Vince] I'm gonna be honest. They look gnarly. - [Erick] Yeah, yeah, yeah. - [Vince] They look a little scary. Oh, and it's like a whole claw. So I guess, you show me, 'cause I've never had this before. - [Erick] With your nail you have to make a cut between the bone, the nail, and the skin. Okay, right here? Meat. - [Vince] I got it! - [Erick] This is the meat. - [Erick] Exactly. - [Vince] All right. - That's what you eat. It is so tasty because it's like eating the sea. - But that's exactly what it is. It literally tastes like you're eating the sea. And the texture! I thought the texture was gonna be more off putting than it is. It's not, it's a little chewy, but it tastes like the sea. - Now you're an expert, Vince. - What I love about when you combine a wine like this, a wine that has a bit of salinity and something like this that has some salinity is it actually tones back both, and like helps bring out the fruitiness and the flow. - Everything becomes more powerful. - Yeah. We need an extra glass! - [Vince] Get the man a glass. - [Vince] I was coming to the realization that when I was back in the States, it was gonna be a long time before I had seafood this good again. Oh, and I may have dragged Valentine on camera against his will... - Bye! - [Valentine] Nope. Bye. - Hey Vino fans. I want to talk to you about signing up for Vino VIP. And since I don't wanna bother you with a ton of commercials while you're trying to watch this show, I'm gonna put all the cliche marketing angles into just this one. Here we go. I know we come off as a big production, but the reality is the entire operation is myself and a few other part-time employees. We're not affiliated with a studio or TV channel. We really wanna keep the show going, but literally can't do it without your help. So please, if the show has entertained you, helped you learn or pass a wine exam. If I've answered your dm's and questions, or if the show's just brought you value in any way, support the small business that provided it, and join Vino VIP, which is our very own membership program. If you enjoy the show, joining Vino VIP is a must anyway. Membership starts at just $5 a month, and here's some of the benefits: Early access to all our videos, including new episodes of the show. Every quarter I host a virtual tasting and Q&A just for VIP members. Every month we raffle off wine glasses and prizes. And once a year, we even have a big winner who gets a personalized tasting, where I send wine and food to your house and host a tasting for you and your friends. Plus, if you're a gold member or platinum member, you get your name in the credits of an episode, kind of like this. I never wanna charge for individual episodes, or worse yet, be unable to make the show at all. But that's why we need support from those of you who can. It's only $5 a month, which is less than a Starbucks coffee. So it's really in reach. Everybody assumes that their support won't make a difference, but I promise you it does. Look at all this pretty members only content you're missing out on. Behind the scenes videos, episode commentaries, and full-length interviews that can be seen nowhere else but our members only section. The first month is free. You literally have nothing to lose. I know this was long, but everything I just said is a hundred percent true. We have tens of thousands of fans. And even if a small percentage of you joined, we could keep making videos for you in the long term. And the last perk is that you can start watching episodes in the members section, and you don't have to hear this pitch, or see ads ever again. Thank you to our existing Vino VIP members, and thanks for considering joining. - Oceans, lakes, rivers, seas, streams, fjords, bays. So many wine regions are near water. Do you need proof? The Finger Lakes in New York, the Douro River in Portugal and Spain, the Pacific Ocean in almost every California wine region, the Mediterranean Sea in Tuscany. I could go on. It's no coincidence that so many of the world's premier wine regions find themselves next to or near water. But despite popular belief, the reason is not irrigation. No, the real reason is much more influential. In short, it mostly comes down to climate moderation. Grape vines can handle a lot. All different soil types, all styles of terrain, big swings in temperature from daytime to nighttime. Even general climate can vary. From really hot regions in Spain to really cold ones in Canada, there are grape varieties suited for almost every climate, but the most important thing that vines like? Consistency from year to year. And this is what bodies of water provide. You see, once a grape variety is chosen and planted you're stuck with it for decades. And every grape has an ideal temperature range it thrives in. Riesling likes an average growing season temperature of around 57 degrees, while Cabernet likes it around 65 degrees. Each one can handle a few cold or warm days here or there, but the average temperature for the season needs to stay the same. Bodies of water help to achieve this consistency. Water maintains temperature longer than air. It's why the California coast doesn't really have warm water until September. It takes all summer for the Pacific Ocean to heat up. And it's the same reason your outdoor pool stays warm even though it's nighttime. This means that a body of water will maintain the same temperature for long periods of time, and help the wine growing area around it do the same. There are other useful effects of bodies of water too. Oceans have breezes that help keep the vines dry and cool. Like here in Rías Baixas. Rivers are usually sloped, and vines near the river will receive sunlight bouncing off the river and onto the vines to help heat them up, like in Mosel, Germany. Lakes not only help in the growing season, but also prevent some regions, like the Finger Lakes, from getting too cold in the winter, and thus freezing and killing the vines. Bodies of water can also provide fog, which helps keep the grapes cool, like in Piedmont, Italy. And finally, because of all this moderating, bodies of water help extend the growing season, which grapes love. The longer a grape can be on the vine without over ripening, the more complex the wine. And if you don't have a body of water nearby, you're much more prone to wild vintage variation, and poor vintages without one. There's one last reason why we like bodies of water that has nothing to do with the grape growing itself. It's transportation! In particular, a lot of older wine regions in Europe were built on water to transport their product via boat before planes, trains, and automobiles existed. Bordeaux and the Gironde, Porto and the Douro, and Alsace and the Rhine all come to mind. So the next time you're at a vineyard staring at a beautiful scene of vines over some water, remember it exists for way more reasons than for you just to have a nice view. - [Vince] It felt appropriate to get to know the sea as intimately as possible while I was here. Because as you have seen by now, Rías Baixas revolves around the water. The vineyards rely on the Atlantic's cool breezes to keep the vines dry. The rivers in the region feed into it. And the marine life in the Rías provides both food and industry to the people who live here. So on a crystal clear day in October, the crew and I set out on an adventure. I want you to think about the last time you had a plate of mussels. You probably ate, what? 20, 30 of them? Now multiply that by the amount of people consuming them across the world each and every day, and know that each mussel can take 18 to 24 months to grow. Ask yourself where do that many mussels come from and how do they possibly harvest enough to keep up with the demand? I was about to find out. Captain Chicho took us to Bateas, the floating mussel farms in the rías. Thousands upon thousands of mussels grow on ropes that extend dozens of feet under the water. I gingerly walked across the raft and tried to lift one of these ropes up. I didn't get too far. It was absurdly heavy. The more you lift, the more mussels aren't being supported by the water's buoyancy. Next, we head to Ons Island. This rural serene conservation area is located just a few miles offshore. There isn't much here. A population of 20, a lighthouse, and some hiking trails, but that's kind of the point. We felt like we had the whole island to ourselves. And while you probably don't think of Northern Spain as a destination for white sand and crystal clear beaches, this is yet another example of how Rías Baixas continues to surprise. - [Vince] If you drive inland along the Minho River, you'll end up at Condado do Tea. This area is unique from the rest of Rias Baixas, in that it's fairly far inland and the hottest of the sub-regions. It's defined by the Minho to the south, and the Tea river that shoots right through it. I landed at Fillaboa, which is on an estate that dates back to the 17th century, and met winemaker Isabel Salgado. - I packed a sweater. I did not need it. It's very, very warm. Even in fall here. Is it warm because we're a little bit more inland? Is that part of it? - Yes. What makes this region in Rías Baixas unique? - The weather, the micro climate, because it's warmer than in the coast. - Okay. - And also the soil, because we are close to the Minho River on the right side. And we have a lot of round stones, and a soil that came from the river. And also we have the bed rock is granite. - You can see all the river stones. - [Isabel] Yes. - [Vince] Literally we're walking on them. Unlike, I think, a lot of the places here you are an estate winery, right? - Yeah. - [Vince] So everything you do comes from your managed property? - [Isabel] Yes. We have 50 acres of vines planted of a hundred percent Albariño. - And what effect does the river have on the climate here and on the wines? - [Isabel] All over the world, the best places for growing high quality wines are close to the river. - Near bodies of water. - Yes, yes. - Of some sort. - Yes. - [Vince] Why do you say that? - [Isabel] It's better to grow a vine, how do you say, in a slope than in a place that is so flat. - [Vince] You get more hours of daylight-- - [Isabel] Yeah. - If you're on a slope, - Yeah. - Then versus if you're just flat down overhead. - [Isabel] You're right. Count had three daughters, two bad, and one was very good. And he left his best estate to the the good daughter. "Fillaboa" means good daughter. - [Vince] So now you have "Fillaboa." - Yes. - Good daughter. - Which is what the winery is named after. - Yes. - That's funny. - Yeah. They say you can't pick your favorite daughter, but I guess sometimes you can. - Yes. What I learned in these years working with Albariño, is that Albariño goes very well if you keep it on the leaves, because the leaves protect it from the oxygen and also give to the wine a lot of volume, mouthful. - Yeah. Soils here tend to be very acidic, and you have a, you know, kind of a high acid grape. And so if you pair it back a bit with the leaves-- - You have to soften-- - [Vince] You soften it. - [Isabel] Yes. - [Vince] I get citrus-- But I get a lot of, kind of riper stone fruit, and I think that's probably 'cause it's a little hotter here. - Yes. - A slight, I think you'd call it like phenolic bitterness, which I really like. Just like a little hint of that almond skin bitterness that I think is really nice. And I, I see that in a lot of Albariños. - Good acidity. But not too much. - Yep. Yep. - And then the lees boosted, I think it's a medium, medium plus body. It gives it more richness in the mouth feel. - Yes. I can find also pineapple. - Pineapple? I'm not saying pineapple for everywhere in Rías Baixas, that's definitely a function of the heat. You can only get that if you are able to ripen the grapes, I think. I'm so happy I'm seeing all these different styles of Albariño. It's really, really helpful. Cheers! - [Vince] At one point, the Cliffs of Galicia were marked the end of the world, the farthest people knew existed. Today for Galicians, much of their world still revolves around these waters. Aquaculture has brought wealth and prosperity to the region. And Galicia now produces around 25% of the seafood output of the entire EU. Mussels, scallops, razor clams, seaweed, turbo, crabs, sardines, anchovies, octopus, gooseneck barnacles, shrimp. If it comes from the sea and humans consume it, it can probably be found here. And if it's shellfish, there's a good chance it was harvested by a woman. Traditionally, the men went out fishing to sea. So the woman harvested shellfish, repaired the nets, and manned the fort at home. The last step is getting all this fish to restaurants and stores. So I met Fernando at Mariscos Laureano to meet the people who get our seafood from ocean to table. - Now I see some people out there kind of harvesting and digging. Like it looks like a really hard work. Wow! That's actually amazing that it's a, you know, kind of a physical manual job, but they're paid very, very well. And I think because like you said, there's so much respect for shellfish here. - For the local economy, it's very, very important. - Eventually everything ends up here, right? - [Fernando] Yes. - Clean 'em get 'em ready. And then you probably help send them to where, restaurants? - Yes. Yeah. Yes. The last steps is to send to a restaurant. - How much shellfish do you process per day? - [Fernando] Depends. More or less... One ton. - [Vince] A ton a day? - [Fernando] Yes. - [Vince] That's crazy. - [Vince] Fernando explained all about the different temperatures of the tanks. Showed me clams in all sizes, colors, shellfish meant to be cooked, versus one's meant to be raw, how the harvesters find them. I have an aunt with a shellfish allergy. So for her, this would be hell, but for me it was heaven. - [Fernando] Okay. This is cockles. - Yeah. The cockles are my favorite here. - It is your favorite? - [Vince] Oh. I've had 'em a couple times now. - Okay. - They're awesome. - I have a surprise for you. - Oh yeah? What do you got? - They're fresh cockles. It's amazing. - All right. - Back to back. - Okay. Like this? - Move and open. - Ah. I got it. Hold on. I got it. - Yeah. - Oh, yeah. Look at that. - Oh, it's so good. It's a piece of the sea. - It's magical. It really is. It is, like you said, a piece of the sea. - Yeah. - It tastes like the place it came from in the same way wine does. - Yeah. - [Vince] I graduated to level two: opening oysters. - [Vince] I already messed up. - So small. - Not enough. - No. - You're just going back and forth? - I can't get it. - Ah geez. We're gonna have to edit this out. - [Vince] It wasn't pretty, but I eventually got it open. Then Fernando brought out some Albariño. - Ohhhhh, okay. - That mixes the flavor. - It's like a pairing, but you're just skipping a step, really. - Okay? - Cheers brother. - Cheers. - Oh, that's so fun. Oh my gosh. That's cool. It tastes so bright. - Mmm hmm. - No? - The fruitiness of the wine like explodes. - Yeah. - Oh my gosh! That's so cool. - [Vince] It was time for my graduate course: razor clams. - [Vince] Look at these! - [Fernando] Razors. - Oh my gosh. Wild, aren't they? - Okay. You press-- - Oh, I can handle that. That looks easier to me. - [Vince] He said, confidently. - And you take. - Wow! You press, you press, you press, your press... I can grab it now? - Yeah. Yeah. - Ugh. - You were worried about how you're gonna come off on camera? I'm coming off very poorly right now. - Soft. - But continuous. - Nope. Is this too? - [Vince] Eventually Fernando helped me out, so I could try one. Raw razor clams? I didn't not like them, but the texture is definitely a bit unnerving at first. So naturally I had to make sure my wife experienced this sensation as well. - Thank you so much. This is the most fun I've had in a long time. - [Vince] The last winery of the trip was Bodegas Granbazán with winemaker Diego Rios. They have several styles of Albariño, reflecting the evolution and versatility that this region has recently embraced, and a stunning neoclassical style estate that rivals any chateau I've ever seen. - This is an amazing estate. I love the colors, the blue. I love the building. - So the whole estate and the whole idea was born in the beginning of the eighties, on the hand of the Otatto family. It is a family from Cambados actually. And they were kind like very involved in a different industry. In the canned seafood industry, which is big. - Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's huge. - And yeah, so they wanted to start into a different business, with the same sense of local, and culture, and territory. - So this is cool. So this, what is this trellis system that we're under? - It is called perra de la diega. It's-- - I can't roll my r's. So I'll let you-- - The main thing is to go very high with the trellis-- - Okay. - In order to get the wind to blow in a little bit more, and dry the grapes as a tool. It rains a lot in this area. So we have a lot of humidity, and we need to maintain this rain cover in order to preserve the structure of the soil. - And you were saying that it used to be too, that they would use the bottom row to grow other crops? - [Diego] Exactly. Yeah, yeah. They used to have, I don't know, potatoes and paprika, some other crops in the lowest part of the ground, and in the height it will be cultivating Albariño. So we have, actually, same wine, two different vintages. - Two very different vintages. - Very different vintages. Exactly. - This is Limosium 2018, which is our barrel Albariño. It means it's a wine that started the fermentation in a Sanosil tank. And then the last third of the fermentation, we put it in barrels. No bigger than 600 liters. - Sure. And what does that barrel fermentation give to the wine? - Well, it gives it, of course, that extra complexity, completely different face from Albariño because normally you're used to a very young, fresh, expressive, very fruit-like, very sea-like, elegant Albariño. And with this, you add that extra level of spiciness, of complexity, a completely different layer of aromas. - Right away on the nose before you even said, "Oh, this is a warm year." I mean, you can smell it. - Yeah, definitely. - You can smell it starts to get into the stone fruit. - Definitely. I'm with you with wrapped stone fruit. And you still have it like the spiciness kinda like this white chocolate, like. - The white chocolate is kind of a spot on. I love that. I don't think I've ever heard a white wine described in that. Yeah. There's still bright citrus in here. There's still flowers in here. There's still some of that salinity. I still get all those things I like, but it just has that extra layer. - See, this is a wine from '89. So of course you're gonna be lacking all that freshness and all that fruitiness because it has to change. It has to evolve into a completely different product. - Yeah. - But for me, it's actually, it's a beautiful product. Because it's completely different. And you move towards more of the leathery, more of the toasty notes, way more rich. Way more darker. - You can see, if you compare, this is that clear. It's very kind of pale. We're getting more straw, honey. A bit on the nose, some of that too. - Yeah, you have like a waxy-- - I was gonna say waxy kind of rubber. Which is really, really fun. Oooh, smokey too. - Yeah. - Little smokey. - Yeah, yeah. - I mean it's done beautifully actually. - And that's interesting too. You said leather. So when I think leather, very common you might say in like an old red wine. - Yeah. - What an interesting thing to get that from here. Like, how cool! - Yeah, you get it? - Yeah. Oh a hundred percent. Oh my goodness. Thank you for sharing this, and opening this, 'cause I had no idea what to expect. So conservas are one of my favorite things. I seek them out in the states, you know, they can tomatoes at the peak of the season. You can get seafood that you wouldn't be able to get locally because it's not in season. - Yeah. Or it's not a thing that's available nearby. - So it's a huge industry here because the product are so good. It's preserved and just in sea water. You have clams here. These are called , which kind of like a small clam. - [Vince] Mm. Those are really good. - They're the mussels. - Yeah. Yeah. - Okay. And this is a razor clam. - [Vince] Razor clam. - They do look weird though. But the pro the taste. - They look strange. - Yeah. - You have to get past that a little bit. The cockles are kind of my new favorite thing. What's cool is that you can kind of recreate this at home. You can get this wine, and you can get these conservas. - Yeah. - And you can recreate this at home. Cheers, Diego. Cheers. - [Vince] Did you guys know that on our website, we have the places we've visited listed on each episode's page? The wines we drank available for sale? And our VIP section with bonus videos? I just thought I'd let you know. - [Vince] While the local restaurants and tapas bars are always fun, Rías Baixas surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly the more I get to know this place, has 15 Michelin rated restaurants. After working as a sommelier, Pepe Gonzales Solla inherited his traditional family restaurant, and did what so many winemakers have done here. Asked, "What's next?" He donned a chef coat, and kept his family tradition alive and then some. Today, he's got the best wine seller in the area, and has created one of the most cutting-edge, upscale, popular restaurants in Galicia. - This space is really important to you, right? - Yeah. In fact, I always say that couldn't be in another place. It is my family restaurant. They opened 1961. When, I start here-- - [Vince] Not to date you. - I was 24. - Okay. - [Pepe] 24 I started working here. Like a sommelier, not like a chef, but then I realized that I needed to change the direction of the restaurant because the society was ending. - You got in the kitchen, and then ever since you've had a consecutive Michelin star since 1980. - Yeah. - Which is insanity. - Yeah. It's one of the, one of the older stars in Spain. It's not common. It's not easy, but I'm not worried about the Michelin star. - Sure. I'm worry about working every day, and try to be harder every day. I'm much better every day. - So many chefs, especially Michelin rated chefs, they'll go open this restaurant, that restaurant. They'll close this one, and open it in a new location. This place is tied to this location. That's really, really special. - It's so incredible for a chef, especially in a really small region to have such quantity of quality products. Even the, the fish, the shellfish, the meat, and vegetables here in Galicia are incredible. - You go to the markets here and this is just... - Yeah. If you see the market, you see a great quantity of different, different fishes and shellfish. Why, why can I move? - You're not leaving. - Why can I move from here? Because here I go to whatever I need. - You're a bit of a rock star in this part of town. By the way, I heard both literally and metaphorically. I heard you play music too, yeah? - [Pepe] Yeah. - [Vince] Which is awesome. Thanks for taking a minute to uh... - Oh, thank you so much. Great. Pleasure to have you here in Galicia. - [Vince] I made a ton of new friends while in Rías Baixas. So we all got together before dinner. And surprise. They brought along a lot of wine. Now that everyone was thoroughly loosened up, it was time to sit, and see what Chef had in the store for us. - Hi. - Hi Chef. First of all, we start with appetizer. On the board, we've got a fish soup that we add a little bit of kimchi and miso we prepare. - Oh, you were asking, by the way, about... So Finger Lakes. I haven't had Albariño from the Finger Lakes. I did have one from Monterey. I wouldn't like, I didn't not like it as a wine, but it was different. - Yeah, definitely. I recently had one from Chile, actually. It had nothing to do with it. - Yeah! Nothing to do with it. - [Diego] Absolutely. Yeah. It was too warm, was too alcoholic. Too neutral. - All of you essentially said that you're not getting the Atlantic anywhere else. You're not getting these soils anywhere else. You're just not gonna get that combo of things anywhere else in the world. - This is our version of the nigiri. And instead of the rice, we use white tuna . Then we add a little bit of tomato, and aromatic curves. On top, there's a red tuna jelly. And as you could see, it's finger food. - Really, really melt in your mouth tuna like the so creamy, so rich. Albariño is generally just an amazing pairing wine, especially with seafood. The acid cuts through the fatty fish, and the salty and citrus character of the wine compliments the savory dish. Plus we have a saying in the wine world, "If it grows together, it goes together." - Whenever you get into wine, and you get into whites, and you want to describe what salinity is Albariño from Salnés Valley, from Rías especially, it will be the great variety to go with. - If you get one from Rías Baixas, it's gonna have it. Whereas like some wines in it, like that may have it from other regions, like no, a Rías Baixas wine is going to have that character. - With the colors, I like to show in a glass of wine, what is Rías Baixas? You can smell when you go through the beats, giving a walk, you can feel the seaweed, all the saltiness that you can feel in the ocean. So it's very graphic. - Martín Códax. How did the name happen? - The name of Martín Códax is nice because he's the name of a troubadour, a poet. He write talking about the womans, the love, and the sea. We use our tradition to show to the people, what is the region Rías Baixas, and the Salnés Valley. - This is a blend made of Albariño. It has also around 35% of . Give us bay leaf, pine, eucalyptus. - Okay. Those kind of fresh-- - Yeah. Very fresh. Exactly. - Herbal character. - Roses as well. - There's these Arabic candies that are like rose water flavored candies. And that's what I get on the nose. - Okay, cool. - [Vince] For sure. - I will explain. This is for my mother, ensaldilla. My mother prepare ensaldilla every Sunday for us, but we prepare in a different way, of course. Okay. We use potatoes, sure. We use fennel, onion and razor clams. We don't use mayonnaise. We use this razor clam emulsion. On top, there is a cream made with green pepper from Patran. - You use a spicy, quite a lot, - But it still actually taste like an ensaldilla, like a traditional one. - [Vince] The high acid wine cut through the creamy emulsion, and the freshness of the wine contrasted the richness of the dish. - [Vince] Now what makes this wine different than the wine we had the other day? - [Isabel] It has one year on the vines. - [Vince] A year? - [Isabel] A year. - [Vince] That's a long time. - [Isabel] Yeah. - I get why chef put this in a burgundy glass, 'cause this has this beautiful honeycomb creaminess that I would expect from a lot of burgundy. - The lees, they add volume to the wine, and also protect it from the oxidation. - Yeah. Because what happens is that it still stays fresh, right? If you get that creaminess from the lees rather than from malo, well then you still have this fresh wine. - I'm agreed too. - Okay. We'll continue with the fish. In this case, this is sea bass. What makes it different, this sea bass, is how it is fished. And how it was sacrificed. With taking the blood off, and with no stress, you will feel the meat is really, really white because it has no blood inside. And the texture is really different, is really tender. What we do is cook in low tempera, and then we grill the skin. On the bottom, there's a vegetable tartar we made with turnip, with celery, and with apple. - I'm loving this wine, actually. It's a very complex version of it, because this is a wine that is a very serious wine. - And this may be one of the best bites of sea bass I've ever had. Chef warned me about this dish before we came, he's like, "You're gonna try this sea bass, later. It's gonna blow your mind." It is mind blowing. - [Vince] Seriously one of the best pieces of fish I've ever had. As the dishes got heavier, so did our wine style. The rich wine matched the weighty sea bass. And of course, our other rules still apply. - This is Don Álvaro de Bazán. This is the wine that we don't release every year. It's our estate Albariño, So all the grapes come from the highest point, actually from our estate. - It's really concentrated in flavor, and I think that's a lot of the point, right? - Yes. - You have, you have some of the best grapes. So it's really bursting in flavor. - [Diego] Yeah. - I think I would describe it as probably one of the most mineral driven wines we've had today. - For me, there are spices, there are a pepper. Green-- eh, black pepper-- - [Vince] Ahhh. - It's also inside. This complexity in Albariño is difficult to achieve. And it's only when you have a good balance in the ripening, and with a really good concentration. - [Vince] Diego outdid himself. This wine really showed the potential of just how complex Albariño could be. What is everybody drinking when they're not drinking Rías Baixas? - From Spain, for me, from Galicia. White wines, from Galicia, for example, Ria Vedo. - From Galicia. - I love that answer. - Valeoras and Ria Vedo, for me, are my favorites. - I gave you anywhere in the world to say, and that's what you're drinking in your own home, is really cool. And that makes me want to dive deeper and find more. - [Vince] While the winemakers agreed they all love the other wines from their region. I may have sparked a debate as to their second favorite wine regions. - [Pepe] This is sea lion, okay? In this case. Yeah, on top, there is, there's a salad we prepare with fresh herbs and with alophyls. The alophyls are the plants that grow just on the border of the sea, and takes the saltiness of the sea. On top there is Macadamian nut. - [Vince] Oh this is a Macadamian nut. - [Isabel] He's not sound. - [Pepe] It's not cheese. - Macadamian nut, and peanut cream. - Yeah. - I have no idea what this is gonna taste like. - Amazing! - [Vince] They were right. Like everything else, it was amazing. What was more amazing was how even in a formal setting, Pepe could make you feel like you were dining in his family restaurant, and that he cooked specifically for you. Like you were a guest in his home. And the different styles of Albariño on the table really did prove to me the versatility of the grape. It was a perfect last meal in Rías Baixas. - [Vince] El Camino de Santiago; The Way of Saint James. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people walk for weeks, making the pilgrimage from all over Spain, Portugal, and France to reach this destination, the capital city of Galicia, Santiago de Compostela and its famous cathedral. It's said to be built over the burial site of St. James. One of only three places in the planet to have been constructed over the tomb of an apostle of Jesus. St. James is said to have spent his life in what is now Spain, preaching in Galicia until he was captured, tried for heresy, and beheaded. Regardless, it's nice to know that while St. James may have not gotten the recognition he deserved in life, his legacy and death is preserved and revered by millions. He's now the patron saint of Spain. Throughout my week here, I suppose I've made a bit of a pilgrimage of my own. When I started writing this episode, I thought, "What a strange wine region." Rías Baixas really doesn't make much sense on paper. A wet, rainy, Spanish-Celtic hybrid that devotes most of their time and energy to only one grape? But then you arrive here, and it all comes into focus. The people don't just live their traditions. They love them. They're not bound by them, but they choose to embrace them anyway. And still they're unafraid to throw caution to the wind and try something new. To innovate, explore in the interest of helping the region grow. And just like the people who travel here from all over Europe, you may not get it until you take the walk, or taste, for yourself. I hope you enjoyed Rías Baixas, and we'll see you next time on "V is for Vino." - [Vince] Hey, Vince here, hope you enjoyed the episode. If you have a moment, follow us on Instagram. And if you really wanna support, please consider joining Vino VIP on Visforveno.com. It's our members only Patreon club, with a ton of benefits. Thanks for watching, and see you soon.