Pairings | Shellfish

The best pairings for albarino (and alvarinho)

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on August 1 2024 at 07:21

If I had to sum up the best food pairing for albarino in one word it would be seafood. Which makes sense considering where it comes from on the coast of Galicia in the Rias Baixas region of northern Spain.

It has that distinctive salty tang you get from another of the country’s iconic wines, manzanilla sherry which makes it a great match for all kinds of raw and lightly cooked shellfish but as I discovered from a recent tasting with Mar de Frades there are more complex oaked versions which can handle richer fuller flavours.

The same suggestions apply to its Portuguese counterpart alvarinho which is made just over the border in the Vinho Verde region

Best pairings for young fresh albarinos

Oysters

Fresh white crab

Fresh prawns or shrimp

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