Wine of the week: Candelilla Albarino 2018

If you’re an albarino fan you’ll have watched with dismay as the price has crept up over the last few years so much so that an albarino under £10 has become something of a rarity.

So it’s good to see this well-priced example, the Candelilla Albarino at £9 a bottle or £54 a case from Marks & Spencer.

For those of you not familiar with the wine it comes from a region called Rias Baixas right on the coast in the north west of Spain and is made from a grape called albarino. It’s a classic crisp, dry seafood white - less fruity than a sauvignon blanc but with more persistence and elegance than a picpoul and a slightly salty tang about it which would make it terrific with oysters and other raw shellfish. Think of it as a Spanish Chablis.

I bought a bottle for friends on Saturday night which we cracked open with a crab risotto and they liked it so much they were going to order a case. If you’re lucky you’ll find it on a deal over the coming weeks though now M & S has lowered its prices across the board they are less common than they once were.

See also The best pairings for albarino (and alvarinho)