2017 Bodegas del Palacio de Fefiñanes, albariño Rías Baixas, Spain (£16 from TheWineSociety.com, 01438-741177.)
Aside from having one of the most attractive wine labels I can think of, this shimmeringly beautiful albariño is a thrilling drink, too. I am, truth be told, more than a little obsessed with great examples of this grape. And yet, at the top of the pile, there are only a few wineries that reliably release stellar albariño wines year in, year out, and Fefiñanes leads the pack.
Bearing in mind the sheer excellence of this wine, the bottle wears a wonderfully affordable price tag. The 2017 arrived in the UK a few weeks ago and it is the finest wine from this vintage and grape variety that I have tasted this season.
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Dating back to 1904, the Fefiñanes estate was the very first to bottle this wistful, aromatic and yet racy grape. It was also the first to note the now famous Rías Baixas region on its labels, too. Drawing grapes from vines across 66 local estates and using some plots as old as 100 years, this is a thoroughly noble wine.
There cannot be many wines as serious as this that are drunk within a year of the grapes hanging on a vine!
Serve it with seafood
The wine represents the true essence of summer in Spain. It is drunk with the finest seafood and crustacea by the great and the good, and you simply must order this wine in for your summer parties. It is a genuine slice of history in a bottle.
• Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition’s Communicator of the Year (MatthewJukes.com).
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