2023 Granbazan Etiqueta Verde Albarino Rias Baixas 750 ml

Granbazán has risen to the top on the strength of its classic terroir—you can see the ocean from their winery—and their forward-thinking attitude in the cellar. They’re situated so close to the water that its influence can be felt in the texture of their wines. Energetic, with lime zest and oyster shells, and soulful with unforgettable notes of peach blossom, it finishes with an unforgettable hint of salinity that only the best Albariños boast.

Rías Baixas, in the far northwest of Spain doesn’t look like a postcard from the land of bullfights and Jamon Iberico: Lush green hills are cut through with rivers, and the rolling coastal landscape has more in common with County Cork than Campo de Borja. But for us, what sets Rías Baixas apart from the rest of Spain is the wines: This is white wine country, where some of the best, most interesting and seafood-friendly bottlings are produced, none of them better than Albariño.

That oceanic climate is part of what sets this wine apart. Granbazán is situated so close to the water that its influence can be felt in the texture of their wines, and tasted in the distinctly briny note that this 2023 showcases. 

Although Granbazán is a baby by Spanish standards—it was founded in 1988—they’ve deservedly developed a reputation as one of the most forward-thinking and proactive producers in all of Galicia. Decanter praised their “extremely open-minded” approach to producing better and more ageworthy Albariño, before declaring them “one of the very best wineries in the region.”