Albariño Rising: Iberian Grape Trending in California

Edible Monterey
By: Laura Ness

There’s a trend in the competitions I’ve judged so far this year: Albariño keeps showing up in a big way. At the 2022 San Francisco Chronicle Competition, an Albariño from Wood Family in Livermore topped a field of 41 entries—a record number—to earn Best of Class. At the just held 2022 East Meets West Wine Competition, a 2021 Albariño from Las Positas, another Livermore winery, won Best of Show, beating out 1,100 total entries for the top prize. Let’s hear it for this Iberian white popular in Spain (30K acres) and Northwest Portugal (14K acres), whose acreage has doubled in CA since 2012. Yep, we’re up to a whopping 560 acres now. 

Local favorite Morgan, won a lot of hearts and big smiles with the 2020 Morgan Albariño (13%, $24) from Arroyo Seco. Gorgeous floral aromatics just charm your nose, and the pleasing flavors of melon, white peach and a hint of salty prosciutto make this wine a keeper. Soft and delicate, but with definitive presence from start to finish. A most engaging composition. 

Morgan winemaker Sam Smith tells us this wine is from the Mission Vineyard in the northern reaches of Arroyo Seco, very close to the SLH, and that Morgan has been sourcing from there for seven years. He used Cross Evolution yeast to enhance both aromatics and mouthfeel, which is also bolstered by barrel aging for six months in 11% new French and Hungarian barrels, with the balance being neutral. He picked the fruit at 21.5 brix. Asked what he’s aiming for with this wine, Smith says, “We are trying to achieve a wine that is relatively lean and very fresh, with effusive aromatics and enough mid palate richness to be paired with oysters and lunchtime fare alike.”

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