Alvarinho/albariño. Texas’s sauvignon blanc. Major grape in northwest Spain and northern Portugal, it produces crisp, high-acidic wines in warm climates — a neat trick, since acidity usually mean cool climate. The grape now is permitted in Bordeaux wines as France adapts to warming vineyards (LINK)
"Albariño Is Leading a White Wine Revolution on California’s Central Coast" (LINK)
"The SLO Coast has approximately 20 percent of California’s total Albariño acreage. More than 25 brands from this region and others will be available as the 2018 vintage is released. Leading the way is Tangent Winery, owned by the Niven family. Their Tangent Albariño earned one of only three gold medals awarded at the 2016 Bacchus International Wine Competition in Madrid, Spain. It was the only wine produced outside of the Rias-Baixas region to win this prestigious award." (LINK)
- Susie Long | Wine Director, Petit & Keet/Cypress Social, Little Rock
- Cadre "Sea Queen" Albarino ($24)
- Coastal environments are key to making the most of Albarino. While typically produced on the Iberian Peninsula, the grape has become trendy for experimental wineries of California's Central Coast AVA. The two regions are similarly influenced by the sea; ocean fog cools and preserves the grape's signature fresh acidity while adding a hint of salinity. Citrus and tropical fruit with strong minerality can be expected from this varietal, truly the queen of the sea. LINK
“I planted the first albariño in 2007 as an alternative to chardonnay, the most popular white grape planted in Long Island,” says Spanish-born general manager of McCall Wines, Miguel Martin. “I believe Long Island may be blessed with similar weather conditions to Galicia. Albariño can handle the humidity very well and our sandy soils are perfect. We don’t share the same topography as Galicia but our climate is very similar.”
Best known in Martin’s native Spain and also Portugal, where it’s goes by alvarinho, albariño makes fresh, fruity-floral white wines that often have a distinct salinity. According to growers on the North Fork, it’s happy here too, though the wines are a bit different, as you’d expect. Martin notes that local renditions have “more ripe peach and tropical citrus than most of the styles I have tried from Vinho Verde, which have a racing acidity and very lean fruit.”
“What is going to make this a staple variety in this region is how well it complements our local cuisine,” he says. “One consistent characteristic that albariño has globally is that delicious saline quality that just screams to be paired with seafood. Give me a bottle of ice cold North Fork albariño on a hot summer day, a bag of deep water oysters, a perfectly ripe lemon and I would be a very happy oenophile.”
A handful of wineries already work with albariño with more going in the ground seemingly every spring. It’s going to become an ever more important grape here.
Local albariño to try: Bedell Cellars, Jamesport Vineyards, and Palmer Vineyards (ABR24)
"“Albarino as a variety is still finding its feet in New York State,” Pickard says. “Long Island in particular seems to excel with crisp aromatic whites; they happen to pair perfectly with the region’s seaside cuisine and beach holiday vibes. Of the very little Albariño I’ve tasted from the Finger Lakes, texture seems to play a big part. That lemony acidity is ever present, but this style—as opposed to the crisper, lighter Spanish or Portuguese styles—could pair nicely with richer foods.” LINK
Notes of white peach, cantaloupe, and golden apple are enveloped by creme brulee, lemon custard and Breyer’s vanilla. Toasted almond finishes the palate with a lilt of menthol. From beginning to end, the journey is enticingly complex and giving. Beyond seafood, pair this with an herb infused poultry dish. 90 points. — Cheron Cowan LINK
Maryland The 2018 Boordy Vineyards Albariño is produced from fruit grown on a southeast facing hillside at Broordy’s South Mountain Vineyard in Frederick County, and produces a wine that is “sunshine in a bottle.” The result is a deliciously dry white wine full of white peach and floral flavors underscored by a streak of mouthwatering salinity. $20 https://wtop.com/wine-of-the-week/2020/07/wine-of-the-week-maryland-has-wines-from-albarino-to-zweigelt/ + LINK
IDAHO : The Williamson family has been looking for a distinctively crisp white wine to pour in their tasting room on Idaho’s historic Sunnyslope in the Snake River Valley. Judges at the 2020 Idaho Wine Competition believe the Williamsons made a delicious decision when they planted the brilliant Spanish white grape Albariño as the Williamson Vineyards 2019 Albariño was voted as best of show, topping a field of 160 entries. tri-cityherald.com/living/food-drink/wine/article245099340.html
Washington:
- Horton also brought other grape varieties to the state, with some failing but others gaining a foothold. A few that flourished included Cabernet Franc, Tannat, Rkatsiteli and Norton. Grape varieties like Albariño and Petit Manseng did well at Horton, leading to other wineries in the state experimenting and then committing to them.
"y a gamble that worked out for him was re-introducing the Albarino grape to France after an absence of 400 years. " (LINK)
REINO UNIDO:
They won the Bollicine del Mondo award for best sparkling white wine in 2012 but have since pulled out the Seyval Blanc vines used in this wine and are planting more Chardonnay for the fizz and for their still white are experimenting with the Spanish variety Albarino - a grape never previously planted in the UK! (LINK)
Balfour Winery, based in Tonbridge, Kent, has said it will increase plantings by over 1,000 vines per annum in the coming years. The producer has already sold the majority of its first single-varietal Albariño from the 2022 vintage before putting it on general sale. Fergus Elias, Balfour’s head winemaker, said that while the grape still represents a “very small, single digit of our overall percentage at Balfour”, which also grows Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Bacchus, Pinot Blanc, Arbanne, Petit Meslier, Riesling, Regent, Reichensteiner, Gamay, Pinot Gris. But the winery is planting more each year, and “more of [the] vines are coming into maturity now”. Balfour isn’t alone. Chapel Down, the UK’s biggest wine producer, and Ancre Hill have produced Albariño wines which are commercially available.
https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/03/is-albarino-englands-next-star-grape-variety/
Nova Zelândia:
"Coopers Creek Select Vineyards Bell-Ringer Albariño 2019 took out the Champion Aromatic award, with the grapes produced by Gisborne grower Doug Bell.
"Coopers Creek Select Vineyards 'Bell-Ringer' Albariño 2019 is the 2019 Champion Aromatic. A new grape and wine to many of us perhaps, Albariño is a long-time favourite of coastal Portugal and northern Spain. Coopers Creek have been making Albariño for more than eight years and it shows. Initially planted in Gisborne where it has flourished, if you love Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc, then an Albariño is your next big adventure in wine. Crisp and delicious with intense flavours and aromas of lime, rock melon and mouth-watering acidity, this is considered the better food pairing wine and at $21.99, what a champion it is." (LINK)
But if I had to put money on what New Zealand’s next rising star will be, it’s albariño. True, there’s not a lot of it about (not yet, anyway), but it’s delicious, slightly fruitier than you find in Galicia, though equally as crisp and saline, all of which make it as appealing to the pinot grigio drinker as to the sauvignon blanc one https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/mar/13/theres-more-to-new-zealand-white-wine-than-sauvignon-blanc
"Gisborne is well known as Chardonnay wine country but it is also seen as the New Zealand home of albarino, and awards success is a good reminder why. Local grapes were behind 21 medals won at this year's New World Wine Awards." LINK
Gordon Russell at Esk Valley Wines in Hawkes Bay is amongst the first growers to make stylish, citrussy crisp wine from the Albarino grape. https://www.hertsad.co.uk/things-to-do/food-reviews/explore-the-wines-of-new-zealand-7923892
There’s also a growing buzz around Albariño, which is grown primarily in the Gisborne region. But it’s still very much early days, Albariño is grown in such small quantities in the region that before 2023 it was lumped into the amorphous ‘other varieties’ category by NZ Wine. In 2025, there were 62ha of Albariño vines, about 85 football pitches or, if you like, 0.2% of the coverage of Sauvignon Blanc.
“We’ve had four vintages of our Yealands Single Vineyard Albariño so far, and it’s been exciting to see it do so well in wine shows,” says Christensen, who, before joining the Yealands team in 2015, was winemaker at La Caña in Rias Baixas, where she would have plenty of experience working with Albariño.
“One of the key differences is in the set-up of the vineyard – most sites in Rias Baixas use the pergola system, whereas in New Zealand we mostly use vertical shoot positioning.
“I like to use similar winemaking techniques to those I learned in Spain, and I’m fortunate that Yealands has a high-spec winery that allows us to make Albariño using a range of different fermentation vessels.
“Albariño is growing in popularity globally, and I think Sauvignon Blanc helped pave the way for this style of fresh, bright wines with crisp acidity.”
https://drinksint.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/12315/Can_New_Zealand_diversify_.html
Uruguai:
Bodega Garzon
Montevideo, Uruguay 2020 (£22.95, jeroboams.co.uk)
Uruguay’s Atlantic breeze-cooled vineyards have much in common with those on the other side of the ocean in Spain’s Galicia, and Bouza’s superbly fragrant mix of white peach, apple, blossom and citrussy cut and thrust is one of many promising versions of the example from the South American country. LINK
Not surprisingly, Albariño excels in South American wine-growing regions that are similar in character to Rías Baixas. Uruguay, in particular. “Surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, Uruguay enjoys a climate with moderate temperatures year-round and abundant rainfall,” says Jesica Vargas, a Wine Enthusiast writer-at-large who reviews wines from South America. “Albariño, which arrived in Uruguay in the early 2000s, has thrived in this vibrant South American country.” Vargas notes that most of the wines are crisp, floral and fruit-forward, with a light saline accent. However, winemakers are still in the process of experimenting with different styles and planting in new regions. “I’m excited about the future of Albariño in Uruguay,” she says. LINK
Variedade chegou ao Uruguai em 2001, mas só ganhou mais espaço no país entre 2019 e 2024
URUGUAI: Uruguay, tradicionalmente reconocido por su vino Tannat, está viviendo una transformación vitivinícola gracias al crecimiento del Albariño, una uva blanca originaria de Galicia, España.
Este fenómeno ha destacado principalmente en nuevas zonas viticultoras de Uruguay, que van desde las sierras pedregosas de Lavalleja hasta las bodegas oceánicas.Hoy la cepa Albariño se planta en la mayoría de los viñedos de Uruguay y tanto en la costa Atlántica como la del Río de la Plata, Montevideo, Canelones y Colonia producen albariños de prestigio internacional.
https://www.elclarin.cl/2026/01/11/albarino-la-nueva-estrella-del-uruguay/
In Portugal the variety is known as 'Alvarinho' and Jancis Robinson, in her book Wine Grapes, argues that Alvarinho is the more correct name because the wine originated in Portugal.
https://www.vinodiversity.com/albarino.html
Rias Baixas lideram em Porto Rico:
Esa apuesta por lo propio conectó con el paladar del Caribe, donde la gastronomía demanda vinos con frescura, salinidad y estructura —precisamente la firma sensorial del albariño.
Hoy, 51 bodegas de Rías Baixas tienen distribución activa en la Isla y 37 participan en la campaña educativa 2025, la más grande que la denominación realiza fuera de Europa.
El fenómeno del albariño se da en un contexto global competitivo. Durante el encuentro, Francisco Millán Rajoy, director de la Oficina Económica y Comercial de España en Puerto Rico, ofreció una mirada comparativa del mercado: “Italia y España están ganando terreno en exportación de vinos blancos. Estados Unidos está bajando consumo y Francia se mantiene estable. Pero en Puerto Rico, la predominancia sigue siendo española: Rías Baixas lidera en blancos”.
https://www.metro.pr/estilo-vida/2025/10/26/nosotros-matamos-por-la-tierra-la-raiz-gallega-detras-del-vino-blanco-favorito-de-puerto-rico/#google_vignette
Audace Alvarinho 2024 (Serra Gaúcha)
O Espírito Santo elevou o nível no universo dos vinhos. A Vinícola Tabocas, no Vale do Tabocas, em Santa Teresa, vai lançar uma edição raríssima do Alvarinho Orange Reserva 2024, que será produzida em apenas 600 garrafas numeradas. O rótulo, que já chega cercado de expectativa entre apreciadores, conquistou medalha de ouro no Wines of Brazil Awards 2025 e chama a atenção pela proposta autoral e pouco comum no Brasil: um vinho branco elaborado com longa maceração das cascas, técnica que dá origem aos chamados vinhos “orange”. https://www.folhavitoria.com.br/gastronomia/so-600-garrafas-santa-teresa-vai-produzir-vinho-raro-em-edicao-especial/
Newton Johnson in Upper Hemel en Aarde Valley pioneered it locally with a few other producers following suit, namely Nederburg, Springfield and most recently Ginny Povall of Botanica Wines. Povall’s Flower Girl 2019 comes from vines on her Stellenbosch property grafted in 2018 onto rootstock planted in 2009 and winemaking involved fermentation and maturation for six months in concrete egg. LINK
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