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Welcome to Rías Baixas.

The jagged
cliffs of northwest Spain

make a stunning backdrop for our episode

in Rías Baixas,

the wine region at the heart of Galicia.

Its many ports and fisheries provide some

of the most irresistible
seafood on the planet.

Quaint towns are scattered
all along the region.

Steep cliffs lead to beaches.

Cold crashing sea waters
connect to calm rivers.

And everywhere you go, the scent

of green Celtic forest mixed with

salty air follows you.

Most importantly, Rías
Baixas is the only true home

to one of my favorite white wines

of all time, Albariño.

Get ready to learn all about Albariño

on a trip to what they call Green Spain

on this episode of "V is for Vino!"

Our journey starts here

in the largest city of the region, Vigo.

This city pretty much
revolves around its port.

It's home to the largest

fishing fleet in all of Europe,
which is the backbone

to the region's fresh seafood,

as well as canning and freezing.

And is a great place to start our journey.

But where exactly are we?

When most people think of Spain,

they think of Madrid and Barcelona,

but this is a completely
separate part of Spain

and it feels different, too.

There's a few terms to know for this area:

Galicia, Northwest Spain,
Green Spain, and Rías Baixas.

Let's break 'em all down.

Galicia is a region in Northwest Spain,

similar to a state in the US.

And while Vigo has the largest

population of the region,

Galicia's capital is actually the famous

Santiago de Compostela,
which we'll chat about later.

Galicia is also part of what
is known as Green Spain,

which includes all of Northern Spain.

It's called this because the Atlantic

helps keep lush, green
pastures and forests,

which means this area feels

more like Ireland or the UK than the hot,

dry terrain of much of the rest of Spain.

This area is stormy and romantic

with rocky coastlines, and cliffs,

and Celtic ruins and
castles throughout the region.

The Celtic tribes that once
populated this region left

behind an Irish footprint
that's still prominent today.

Their traditions, festivals, ruins,

and even the language.

This part of Spain has
two official languages,

Spanish and Galician.

And while this is all fascinating history,

we're here today to talk
about something different,

the wine region of Rías Baixas.

Yes, it's pronounced Rías Baixas

and once you get the hang of it,

it rolls off the tongue. I promise.

Rías Baixas is an area within Galicia

and what's known as a DO,
or Denominación de Origen.

A DO is similar to an AOC
in France, or DOC in Italy.

It's Spain's version of
a system that regulates

geographic, grape, and quality controls.

Rías Baixas has within it five sub-regions.

In order to be called a Rías Baixas wine,

you need to grow your
grapes in one of these areas,

and adhere to the other DO requirements.

The region name means Lower Rías,

lower because there's a separate area

up north called Rías Altas or Upper Rías,

and Rias, which means fjord or inlet.

Rías Baixas has four of these major inlets

coming in from the sea.

These inlets are unique because

they mix the sea water of the ocean with

the freshwater of the
rivers they connect to,

which makes for one of the richest habitats

in the world when it comes to marine life,

and accordingly, a
huge diversity of seafood.

This water also has a huge effect

on the terroir of the region.

So that one of the most
exciting, best pairing,

clean, fresh white wines on the planet

can grow and thrive.

I'm talking about Albariño.

And since these two things

compliment each other so well,

Albariño and seafood, that is,

I figure we should spend a good amount

of time on this trip, gettin' to know both.

Most people believe that Albariño is

an indigenous grape to this region.

What's indisputable is that it's

the spiritual home of the grape.

It's grown almost
nowhere else in the world.

And even when replicated,
it's here in Rías Baixas

that the best examples are made.

To figure out why that
is, I went to Cambados,

a city 20 miles north of Vigo that's known

as the Albariño wine capital.

Here, I met Katia Álvarez
from Martín Códax Winery.

Welcome to Cambados, the Albariño city.

Here is where the Albariño

started to plant it years ago.

I think this is the heart

of the Salnés Valley, Cambados.

And there's a big festival here, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

The first weekend of August

there are a competition between

the different wineries looking for

the best wine of the year.

Okay.

And in this competition
that is, is important.

And it's hard because there are more

than 100 Albariños and
people from other regions,

people that is specialized in wines,

come here and taste the wine to choose

the best Albariño of the year.

Albariño, you know, they
do make it other places.

You know, you can find Albariño,

I've even seen some in California now,

but Rías Baixas is really, I think,

the home of it, right?

Yeah, it's really
different Albariño from here

than any other Albariño from other regions.

The first thing, the place, the climate.

Here, we have a very
Atlantic influenced climate

in where we have a lot of precipitation.

Yeah, a lotta rain
and it's a little rainy.

It was rainy this morning.

We had to wait for the sun to come out.

Exactly, exactly.

We have rain, we have
mild temperatures because

the ocean have influencing the temperature.

Also we have a good soil
because we have a soil

that is 100% granitic.

Very sandy soil.

So the sandy soils can drain out

all of that liquid that
would otherwise be tough.

The vines would get waterlogged.

Exactly, so this is really important.

I think the blend between the varietal,

the climate, the soil, and the way

to grow the Albariño is
what made the Albariño

from Rías Baixas different.

When we think about Spain, you think

about the drier Spain, you know?

But Cambados is in the north, in Galicia

in the northwest coast of Spain,

so this is the Green Spain.

Yeah.

It's total different.

Completely different.

When I think of a lot
of Spain wine regions,

I think of a hot, almost desert climate.

Then you come here and it's lush.

I mean, we were driving in yesterday

and I didn't have any expectations.

It's beautiful.

You get these beautiful hills.

It's green and lush everywhere you go.

It's really, really special.

Do you wanna head to the winery?

Of course.

All right, let's do it.

I hope so.

The oldest region of Rías Baixas

is Val do Salnés, which holds

two-thirds of its wineries,

and that's where Martín Códax is located.

Before we taste it though,

Katia set up a little demo for me

that was the perfect intro to Albariño.

This is, this is incredible.

What is, so what is this?

This is a easy way to
explain how the Albariño smell.

Yeah and this is awesome.

I mean, this is a great way to kind

of learn the basics about Albariño.

So the flower component
is really big in this wine.

The white flowers, I think, is very,

very typical in this wine.

And then the citrus character.

Lots of citrus.

When you have more fresh Albariño

the lemon is very present.

It's a more ripened de Albariño

the orange is also... orange pomelo.

You have flowers, you have the citrus.

I have to imagine if it's
maybe a little bit riper,

it would get to some of the stone fruit?

It depends on the year.

Or even taking into account

the selection of grapes that
you use to make the wine.

You can have more ripened flavors.

And if you make aging over the lees,

you can go into the butter
or into the brioche flavor.

So if you get these
kind of buttery character,

that's more if you're doing lees aging,

which is a style.

Or malo, malolactic fermentation that

in the Salnés Valley is really useful.

The anise, for example,

is very typical in the Albariño.

Even, even without oak.

Exactly, in young wines.

When you make the fermentation in oak

is when you can find the vanilla,

the cinnamon, I think.

And this is chamomile?

Chamomile tea.

So that is also really
present in the young Albariño.

Okay.

Now we are talking about the Albariño

from the Salnés Valley,

that is seeing where the
citrus character, the apple,

and the influence of the ocean,

the saltiness is present.

But if you go from Albariño

to other regions in Rías Baixas,

you can feel also another kind of flavor.

Yes, this is why I came here.

For the Albariño, of course.

Yes, and all of it.

Some of the seafood that we grow

in our rías is important,

the cockles, the clams,
the octopus, the oysters.

Also the salmon with avocado.

So it's something that
go perfect with Albariño.

And we can't forget
the cheese from Galicia.

That's all local cheese.

Exactly.

Very good. All right.

Well, let's get into the wine.

As you mentioned, fresh
white flowers, so bright.

So in Martín Códax,

we can see all the
things that we see before.

The white flowers,

the citrus character is really present,

the lemon, the lemon zest.

Slightly bright bitter lemon,

rather than like a super ripe juicy.

So lemon zest is perfect.

And then it's the apple, the pear,

and also with a lot of saltiness

that gives more personality to the wine.

And then what's important is

when you taste the wine it's fresh,

the acidity is present, but it's soft.

It's a little creamy.

It's creamy because we
work with malo fermentation.

Okay.

So this is important to achieve

this balance in the mouth.

Like I would expect a
wine with this fruit character.

I would expect the acidity to be more...

Aggressive. - I guess harsh.

Yeah. Abrasive. Exactly.

But no, it's not it at all.

The vineyards
in Rías Baixas are unique.

While there are around 200 wineries,

there's over 5,500 growers,

many of whom have
small family plots of land

passed down from generation to generation.

The winemakers and the
wine growers really have

an intimate relationship in this region.

So you work with local
families and growers.

All of them, all of them. 300 families.

- And it's one half...
- 300?

It's amazing. In fact, you can see that

there are very small, eh, plots,

blending with the houses.

It's a big challenge, but
also it's an opportunity

because in all of this family,

we can achieve very special plots.

You're a very well known winery

from this region, but the fact that you

- still continue to work with local growers...
- Yeah.

Is very, very awesome.

This is about as good an intro to Albariño

as I could have possibly asked for.

Thank you so much.

It's a pleasure. Thank you.

99% of wine
made in Rías Baixas is white,

and 90% of that is Albariño.

So yeah, it's a big deal here.

It's a grape that's uniquely
adapted to this region.

Not just any grape can thrive

in these sorts of rainy seaside conditions.

It'd be like someone from Arizona

transplanted to Seattle.

They'd prefer drier weather.

Wet conditions lead to mold and rot

in the vines and grapes.

But for a few reasons,
Albariño does great here

despite the rain.

The first reason is that it's

native here to Rías Baixas,

so it has naturally evolved over time

to withstand these conditions.

The second reason is
the well draining granite

and schist soils that prevent the water

from rotting the roots.

Third... ocean breezes and lots of sunshine

between rains that help keep the vines dry.

And fourth? You're looking at it.

These wire trellises are called perras,

and they help keep the
grapes off the ground

and in the breeze so they
can stay nice and cool.

Albariño is defined by
three characteristics.

First is its high acidity,

which helps keep it
fresh, bright, and clean.

Second is its minerality and salinity.

Think ocean spray and pebbles.

Third is something
called phenolic bitterness,

which provides a slight bitter finish

and length to the wine.

This comes from its unusually thick skins,

and similar to the bitter we experience

in citrus peels or raw almond.

Then you've got wonderful fruit flavors.

Citrus like lemon and grapefruit,

melon and honeydew, stone fruits like

peach, and nectarine, and honeysuckle.

When you combine it
all, you end up with a wine

that is perfect for drinking on its own,

like an aperitif, or with
food... especially seafood.

The traditional style of Albariño

is done in stainless steel and drunk young.

But as this region evolves,

you've got modern wine makers using

lees aging to round out the wine,

barrel fermentation to give the wine

creaminess and structure,

people aging the wine five years or more,

and some even making sparkling versions.

Furthermore, many of these
wine makers are women.

Over 50%!

And this actually goes back to tradition.

Back in the day, men were
often away fishing at sea.

So the women had to hold down the fort

in the vineyards.

History buffs will find plenty

to see and do in Rías Baixas.

From the Romans to the
Celtics, to the Spanish.

This region has the
remnants of thousands of years

of history, if you know where to look,

Castro de Santa Trega is one such place.

It's an old Celtic Fort in
the Southwest of the region.

And with sweeping panoramic views

of the Atlantic, the cities nearby,

and the Minho River,
it feels pretty magical.

It was just the right place to meet local

Erick García, to chat about
the history of this region.

Well, today we are in
the Monte Santa Tecla.

It's a very old mountain.

Place has been inhabited for

thousand of year before Christ.

The remains we have here
are from the Bronze Era.

The people used to, to
build this kind of houses,

surrounded by a wall, which
protect us from the enemy.

This kind of city was always built

in the very top of the
mountain so they can see,

you know, the enemies coming.

Sure.

The Celtic culture influenced this area.

And that's why we have some part of

their culture here,
because they travel here.

Also the Phoenicians, the Romans.

So this region has really seen

everybody kind of come and go.

Yeah, it's true. It's true.

It's like a mix of cultures here.

Now from a wine
perspective, this mountain

actually has some
influence on the wine too.

We are in O Rosal Valley,

one of the five sub regions of Rías Baixas.

This is all a valley where we have

the Atlantic Ocean in the west,

the Minho River in the south that is split

the north of Portugal from the south of...

- Yeah, you can see Portugal.
- This valley.

It's right over there.

Exactly. Yeah exactly.

Portugal is right in front.

So this mountain help us
to protect us from the mist,

which is coming from the ocean.

And you can see all this fog and mist

that's kind of in this area.

It's quite a lot of
mist, and it's important

to keep it away from
the vineyards, you know,

because we are already
in a place that is very damp.

We have a lot of humidity,

so it's important to keep it away.

There are some records that we have

been making wines here for centuries,

and Albariño has been
produced here for centuries.

Erick represents Adegas Valmiñor,

which makes wine in the O
Rosal region of Rías Baixas.

It borders the Minho River and Portugal,

is known for being a bit warmer

than the other sub-regions,
and also blending Albariño

with other local grapes.

In addition to wine tasting,

I also apparently signed
up to go off-roading

because Erick pulled up in a Jeep,

specifically, a 1988 Land Rover Santana.

What is this?

Well, this is a very old truck.

It's the first brand that Land Rover

allowed to produce in Spain.

At the very beginning, they start to

produce this car for the Spanish army.

It looks like an army
car. Am I getting in?

Yeah, sure. Come in.

Let's do it!

Feeling like true Spaniards,

we headed in our re-purposed
combat vehicle uphill.

After a bumpy ride,
we arrived at our tasting.

First question
I have is explain to me

the symbol you kinda have for your logo.

It's on the wine. What is it?

As I told you already,

we are very influenced
by the Celtic culture.

We decided to create a kind of logo

with the four elements we need

for the vine growing, which are the rain,

the sun, the earth, and the air.

Okay. Okay, great.

So those are Celtic symbols

of the four elements.

What makes O Rosal special?

Well, first of all, O
Rosal, it's a kind of valley.

We receive more hours of sunlight,

which allow us to have a
better ripening of the grape.

Oh wow. Roses and
Jasmine on the nose right away.

It's really floral!

It's really floral,
really fun and floral.

It's one of the main feature

of Albariño from this area.

We are using autochthonous yeast.

This is a special yeast

that give us this kind of aromas.

We also have some citric notes as well.

I do get the citrus notes.

I get some, I get some
orange, maybe orange peel

or juicy, like juicy ripe oranges.

Orange peel here. Yeah.

I also get some salty notes in the mouth.

Usually when I think of high acid wines,

I think of lighter, right?

But what's nice about this is

you still get that acidity,

but you get a juicy, ripe wine,

which is a really nice blend.

And it is surprisingly, oh,
I had a wine yesterday.

We were at Martin Codax yesterday,

and it is different from that wine.

Erick had brought his friend,

Augustine, from Araya
Grande restaurant nearby

who brought, what else? More seafood.

I love it. More seafood.

Cockles I had yesterday.
I love the cockles.

And that's something that

I don't see often in the states.

We have some baby shrimps.

This is super typical from here.

And we got some barnacles.

The barnacles, perhaps this is the most

- typical food here in...
- The barnacles are?

in Galicia.
Yeah, because it grows

in the rocks where the
waves crash against the heels.

So it's very difficult to harvest, to take.

That's why it's so precious
dish here in Galicia.

I'm gonna be honest.

They look gnarly.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

They look a little scary.

Oh, and it's like a whole claw.

So I guess, you show me,

'cause I've never had this before.

With your nail you have to

make a cut between the
bone, the nail, and the skin.

Okay, right here? Meat.

- I got it!
- This is the meat.

Exactly. - All right.

That's what you eat.

It is so tasty because
it's like eating the sea.

But that's exactly what it is.

It literally tastes like
you're eating the sea.

And the texture! I thought the texture was

gonna be more off putting than it is.

It's not, it's a little chewy,

but it tastes like the sea.

Now you're an expert, Vince.

What I love about when you combine a wine

like this, a wine that
has a bit of salinity

and something like this
that has some salinity

is it actually tones back both,

and like helps bring out
the fruitiness and the flow.

Everything becomes more powerful.

Yeah. We need an extra glass!

Get the man a glass.

I was coming to the realization

that when I was back in the States,

it was gonna be a long time before I had

seafood this good again.

Oh, and I may have
dragged Valentine on camera

- against his will...
- Bye!

Nope. Bye!

Oceans, lakes, rivers,
seas, streams, fjords, bays.

So many wine regions are near water.

Do you need proof?

The Finger Lakes in New York,

the Douro River in Portugal and Spain,

the Pacific Ocean in almost

every California wine region,

the Mediterranean Sea in Tuscany.

I could go on.

It's no coincidence that so many

of the world's premier wine regions

find themselves next to or near water.

But despite popular belief,

the reason is not irrigation.

No, the real reason is
much more influential.

In short, it mostly comes
down to climate moderation.

Grape vines can handle a lot.

All different soil types,
all styles of terrain,

big swings in temperature
from daytime to nighttime.

Even general climate can vary.

From really hot regions in Spain

to really cold ones in Canada,

there are grape varieties suited

for almost every climate,

but the most important
thing that vines like?

Consistency from year to year.

And this is what bodies of water provide.

You see, once a grape
variety is chosen and planted

you're stuck with it for decades.

And every grape has an ideal

temperature range it thrives in.

Riesling likes an average

growing season temperature
of around 57 degrees,

while Cabernet likes it around 65 degrees.

Each one can handle a few cold

or warm days here or there,

but the average temperature for the season

needs to stay the same.

Bodies of water help to
achieve this consistency.

Water maintains
temperature longer than air.

It's why the California coast

doesn't really have warm
water until September.

It takes all summer for the
Pacific Ocean to heat up.

And it's the same reason
your outdoor pool stays warm

even though it's nighttime.

This means that a body
of water will maintain

the same temperature
for long periods of time,

and help the wine growing
area around it do the same.

There are other useful
effects of bodies of water too.

Oceans have breezes that help

keep the vines dry and cool.

Like here in Rías Baixas.

Rivers are usually sloped,
and vines near the river

will receive sunlight
bouncing off the river

and onto the vines to help heat them up,

like in Mosel, Germany.

Lakes not only help in the growing season,

but also prevent some
regions, like the Finger Lakes,

from getting too cold in the winter,

and thus freezing and killing the vines.

Bodies of water can also provide fog,

which helps keep the grapes cool,

like in Piedmont, Italy.

And finally, because
of all this moderating,

bodies of water help
extend the growing season,

which grapes love.

The longer a grape can be on the vine

without over ripening,
the more complex the wine.

And if you don't have
a body of water nearby,

you're much more prone
to wild vintage variation,

and poor vintages without one.

There's one last reason why

we like bodies of water
that has nothing to do

with the grape growing itself.

It's transportation!

In particular, a lot of older wine regions

in Europe were built on water to transport

their product via boat

before planes, trains,
and automobiles existed.

Bordeaux and the Gironde,
Porto and the Douro,

and Alsace and the Rhine all come to mind.

So the next time you're
at a vineyard staring at

a beautiful scene of vines over some water,

remember it exists for
way more reasons than

for you just to have a nice view.

It felt appropriate
to get to know the

sea as intimately as
possible while I was here.

Because as you have seen by now,

Rías Baixas revolves around the water.

The vineyards rely on
the Atlantic's cool breezes

to keep the vines dry.

The rivers in the region feed into it.

And the marine life in the Rías

provides both food and industry

to the people who live here.

So on a crystal clear day in October,

the crew and I set out on an adventure.

I want you to think about the last time

you had a plate of mussels.

You probably ate, what? 20, 30 of them?

Now multiply that by the amount of people

consuming them across
the world each and every day,

and know that each mussel can take

18 to 24 months to grow.

Ask yourself where do that many mussels

come from and how do
they possibly harvest enough

to keep up with the demand?

I was about to find out.

Captain Chicho took us to Bateas,

the floating mussel farms in the rías.

Thousands upon thousands of mussels

grow on ropes that extend

dozens of feet under the water.

I gingerly walked across the raft

and tried to lift one of these ropes up.

I didn't get too far.

It was absurdly heavy.

The more you lift,

the more mussels aren't being supported

by the water's buoyancy.

Next, we head to Ons Island.

This rural serene conservation area

is located just a few miles offshore.

There isn't much here.

A population of 20, a lighthouse,

and some hiking trails,
but that's kind of the point.

We felt like we had the
whole island to ourselves.

And while you probably don't think

of Northern Spain as a
destination for white sand

and crystal clear beaches,

this is yet another example of how

Rías Baixas continues to surprise.

If you drive inland
along the Minho River,

you'll end up at Condado do Tea.

This area is unique from
the rest of Rias Baixas,

in that it's fairly far inland

and the hottest of the sub-regions.

It's defined by the Minho to the south,

and the Tea river that
shoots right through it.

I landed at Fillaboa, which is on an estate

that dates back to the 17th century,

and met winemaker Isabel Salgado.

I packed a sweater.

I did not need it. It's very, very warm.

Even in fall here.

Is it warm because we're
a little bit more inland?

Is that part of it?

Yes.

What makes this region
in Rías Baixas unique?

The weather, the micro climate,

because it's warmer than in the coast.

Okay.

And also the soil, because we are close

to the Minho River on the right side.

And we have a lot of round stones,

and a soil that came from the river.

And also we have the bed rock is granite.

You can see all the river stones.

Yes.

Literally we're walking on them.

Unlike, I think, a lot of the places here

you are an estate winery, right?

Yeah.

So everything you do

comes from your managed property?

Yes. We have 50 acres of vines

planted of a hundred percent Albariño.

And what effect does the river have

on the climate here and on the wines?

All over the world,

the best places for
growing high quality wines

are close to the river.

Near bodies of water. - Yes, yes.

Of some sort. - Yes.

Why do you say that?

It's better to grow a vine,

how do you say, in a slope

than in a place that is so flat.

You get more hours of daylight...

Yeah.

If you're on a slope, - Yeah.

Then versus if you're
just flat down overhead.

You're right.

There's a legend for Fillaboa that a

Count had three daughters,

two bad, and one was very good.

And he left his best estate
to the the good daughter.

"Fillaboa" means in
Gallego "good daughter".

So now you have "Fillaboa."

Yes. - Good daughter.

Which is what the winery is named after.

Yes.

That's funny.

Yeah. They say you can't
pick your favorite daughter,

but I guess sometimes you can.

Yes. What I learned in these years

working with Albariño, is
that Albariño goes very well

if you keep it on the lees

because the lees protect it from the oxygen

and also give to the wine
a lot of volume, mouthfeel.

Yeah. Soils here tend to be very acidic,

and you have a, you know,
kind of a high acid grape.

And so if you pair it
back a bit with the lees...

You have to soften...

You soften it. - Yes.

I get citrus...
But I get a lot of,

kind of riper stone fruit,

and I think that's probably 'cause

it's a little hotter here.

Yes.

A slight, I think you'd call it

like phenolic bitterness,
which I really like.

Just like a little hint of that almond skin

bitterness that I think is really nice.

And I, I see that in a lot of Albariños.

Good acidity.

But not too much.

Yep. Yep.

And then the lees boost it

I think to a medium, medium plus body.

It gives it more richness
in the mouth feel.

Yes. I can find also pineapple.

Pineapple? I'm not saying pineapple

for everywhere in Rías Baixas,

that's definitely a function of the heat.

You can only get that

if you are able to
ripen the grapes, I think.

I'm so happy I'm seeing all these

different styles of Albariño.

It's really, really helpful.

Cheers!

At one point,
the Cliffs of Galicia

were marked the end of the world,

the farthest people knew existed.

Today for Galicians, much of their world

still revolves around these waters.

Aquaculture has brought wealth

and prosperity to the region.

And Galicia now produces around 25%

of the seafood output of the entire EU.

Mussels, scallops, razor clams, seaweed,

turbo, crabs, sardines, anchovies,

octopus, gooseneck barnacles, shrimp.

If it comes from the sea
and humans consume it,

it can probably be found here.

And if it's shellfish,
there's a good chance

it was harvested by a woman.

Traditionally, the men
went out fishing to sea.

So the woman harvested shellfish,

repaired the nets, and
manned the fort at home.

The last step is getting all this fish

to restaurants and stores.

So I met Fernando at
Mariscos Laureano to meet

the people who get our
seafood from ocean to table.

Now I see some people out there

kind of harvesting and digging.

Like it looks like a really hard work.

Wow! That's actually amazing that it's a,

you know, kind of a physical manual job,

but they're paid very, very well.

And I think because like you said,

there's so much respect for shellfish here.

For the local economy,
it's very, very important.

Eventually everything
ends up here, right?

Yes.

Clean 'em get 'em ready.

And then you probably help send them

to where, restaurants?

Yes. Yeah. Yes.

The last steps is to send to a restaurant.

How much shellfish
do you process per day?

Depends.
More or less... One ton.

A ton a day?

Yes.

That's crazy.

Fernando explained all about the

different temperatures of the tanks.

Showed me clams in all sizes, colors,

shellfish meant to be cooked,

versus one's meant to be raw,

how the harvesters find them.

I have an aunt with a shellfish allergy.

So for her, this would be hell,

but for me it was heaven.

Okay. This is cockles.

Yeah. The cockles are my favorite here.

It is your favorite?

Oh. I've had
'em a couple times now.

Okay.

They're awesome.

I have a surprise for you.

Oh yeah? What do you got?

They're fresh cockles. It's amazing.

All right.

Back to back.

Okay. Like this?

Move and open.

Ah. I got it. Hold on. I got it.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah. Look at that.

Oh, it's so good.

It's a piece of the sea.

It's magical.

It really is.

It is, like you said, a piece of the sea.

Yeah.

It tastes like the place it came from

in the same way wine does.

Yeah.

I graduated to
level two: opening oysters.

I already messed up.

So small.

Not enough. - No.

You're just going back and forth?

I can't get it.

Ah geez. We're gonna
have to edit this out.

It wasn't pretty,

but I eventually got it open.

Then Fernando brought out some Albariño.

Ohhhhh, okay.

That mixes the flavor.

It's like a pairing, but you're just

skipping a step, really.

Okay?

Cheers brother.

Cheers.

Oh, that's so fun.

Oh my gosh. That's cool.

It tastes so bright.

Mmm hmm.

No?

The fruitiness of the wine like explodes.

Yeah.

Oh my gosh! That's so cool.

It was time
for my graduate course:

razor clams.

Look at these!

Razors.

Oh my gosh. Wild, aren't they?

Okay. You press...

Oh, I can handle that.
That looks easier to me.

He said, confidently.

And you take.

Wow!

You press, you press,
you press, your press...

I can grab it now?

Yeah. Yeah.

Ugh.

You were worried about how you're

gonna come off on camera?

I'm coming off very poorly right now.

Soft. - But continuous.

Nope.

I can't get it!

Eventually
Fernando helped me out,

so I could try one.

Raw razor clams?

I didn't not like them, but the texture is

definitely a bit unnerving at first.

So naturally I had to make sure

my wife experienced this sensation as well.

Thank you so much.

This is the most fun
I've had in a long time.

The last winery of the trip was

Bodegas Granbazán with
winemaker Diego Rios.

They have several styles of Albariño,

reflecting the evolution and versatility

that this region has recently embraced,

and a stunning neoclassical style estate

that rivals any chateau I've ever seen.

This is an amazing estate.

I love the colors, the blue.

I love the building.

So the whole estate and the whole idea

was born in the beginning of the eighties,

on the hand of the Otero family.

It is a family from Cambados actually.

And they were kind like very involved in a

different industry.

In the canned seafood
industry, which is big.

Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's huge.

And yeah, so they wanted to

start into a different business, with the

same sense of local,
and culture, and territory.

So this is cool. So this, what is this

trellis system that we're under?

It is called Parra Gallega. It's...

I can't roll my r's. So
I'll let you...

The main thing is to go
very high with the trellis...

Okay.

In order to get the wind to blow in

a little bit more, and
dry the grapes as a tool.

It rains a lot in this area.

So we have a lot of humidity,

and we need to maintain this rain cover

in order to preserve
the structure of the soil.

And you were saying
that it used to be too,

that they would use the
bottom row to grow other crops?

Exactly. Yeah, yeah.

They used to have, I don't know,

potatoes and paprika, some other crops

in the lowest part of the ground,

and in the height it will
be cultivating Albariño.

So we have, actually, same wine,

two different vintages.

Two very different vintages.

Very different vintages. Exactly.

This is Limousim 2018,
which is our barrel Albariño.

It means it's a wine that
started the fermentation

in a stainless steel tank.

And then the last third
of the fermentation,

we put it in barrels.

No bigger than 600 liters.

Sure. And what does that

barrel fermentation give to the wine?

Well, it gives it, of course,

that extra complexity,
completely different face

from Albariño because
normally you're used to a

very young, fresh,
expressive, very fruit-like,

very sea-like, elegant Albariño.

And with this, you add that extra level

of spiciness, of complexity,

a completely different layer of aromas.

Right away on the
nose before you even said,

"Oh, this is a warm year."

I mean, you can smell it.

Yeah, definitely.

You can smell it starts
to get into the stone fruit.

Definitely.

I'm with you with ripe stone fruit.

And you still have it like the spiciness

kinda like this white chocolate, like.

The white chocolate is kind of a spot on.

I love that.

I don't think I've ever heard a

white wine described in that.

Yeah. There's still bright citrus in here.

There's still flowers in here.

There's still some of that salinity.

I still get all those things I like,

but it just has that extra layer.

See, this is a wine from '89.

So of course you're gonna
be lacking all that freshness

and all that fruitiness
because it has to change.

It has to evolve into a
completely different product.

Yeah.

But for me, it's actually,
it's a beautiful product.

Because it's completely different.

And you move towards more of the leathery,

more of the toasty notes, way more rich.

Way more darker.

You can see, if you
compare, this is that clear.

It's very kind of pale.

We're getting more straw, honey.

A bit on the nose, some of that too.

Yeah, you have like a waxy...

I was gonna say waxy kind of rubber.

Which is really, really fun.

Oooh, smokey too.

Yeah.

Little smokey.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean it's done beautifully actually.

And that's interesting
too. You said leather.

So when I think leather,
very common you might say

in like an old red wine.

Yeah.

What an interesting
thing to get that from here.

Like, how cool!

Yeah, you get it?

Yeah. Oh a hundred percent.

Oh my goodness.

Thank you for sharing
this, and opening this,

'cause I had no idea what to expect.

So conservas are one of my favorite things.

I seek them out in the states, you know,

they can tomatoes at
the peak of the season.

You can get seafood that you

wouldn't be able to get locally

because it's not in season.

Yeah.

Or it's not a thing
that's available nearby.

So it's a huge industry here

because the product are so good.

It's preserved and just in sea water.

You have clams here.

These are called berberechos,

which kind of like a small clam.

Mm. Those are really good.

They're the mussels.

Yeah. Yeah.

Okay. And this is a razor clam.

Razor clam.

They do look weird though.

But the pro the taste.

They look strange.

Yeah.

You have to get past that a little bit.

The cockles are kind
of my new favorite thing.

What's cool is that you can

kind of recreate this at home.

You can get this wine, and
you can get these conservas.

Yeah.

And you can recreate this at home.

Cheers, Diego.

Cheers.

While the local restaurants

and tapas bars are always fun,

Rías Baixas surprisingly,
or maybe not so surprisingly

the more I get to know this place,

has 15 Michelin rated restaurants.

After working as a sommelier,
Pepe Gonzales Solla

inherited his traditional
family restaurant,

and did what so many
winemakers have done here.

Asked, "What's next?"

He donned a chef coat, and kept his

family tradition alive and then some.

Today, he's got the best
wine seller in the area,

and has created one
of the most cutting-edge,

upscale, popular restaurants in Galicia.

This space is really
important to you, right?

Yeah. In fact, I always say that

couldn't be in another place.

It is my family restaurant.
They opened 1961.

- When, I start here...
- Not to date you.

I was 24. - Okay.

24 I started working here.

Like a sommelier, not like a chef,

but then I realized that I needed to

change the direction of the restaurant

because the society was changing.

You got in the kitchen,
and then ever since

you've had a consecutive
Michelin star since 1980.

Yeah.

Which is insanity.

Yeah. It's one of the,

one of the older stars in Spain.

It's not common. It's not easy,

but I'm not worried
about the Michelin star.

Sure.

I'm worry about working every day,

and try to be harder every day.

And much better every day.

So many chefs, especially
Michelin rated chefs,

they'll go open this
restaurant, that restaurant.

They'll close this one, and
open it in a new location.

This place is tied to this location.

That's really, really special.

It's so incredible for a chef,

especially in a really small region

to have such quantity of quality products.

Even the, the fish,
the shellfish, the meat,

and vegetables here
in Galicia are incredible.

You go to the markets
here and this is just...

Yeah. If you see the market,

you see a great quantity of different,

different fishes and shellfish.

Why, why can I move?

You're not leaving.

Why can I move from here?

Because here I go to whatever I need.

You're a bit of a rock star

in this part of town. By the way, I heard

both literally and metaphorically.

I heard you play music too, yeah?

Yeah.

Which is awesome.

Thanks for taking a minute to uh...

Oh, thank you so much. Great.

Pleasure to have you here in Galicia.

I made a ton of new friends

while in Rías Baixas.

So we all got together before dinner.

And surprise. They
brought along a lot of wine.

Now that everyone was
thoroughly loosened up,

it was time to sit, and see what Chef

had in the store for us.

Hi. - Hi Chef.

First of all, we start with appetizer.

On the board, we've got
a fish soup that we add

a little bit of kimchi and miso we prepare.

Oh, you were asking, by the way, about...

So Finger Lakes.

I haven't had Albariño
from the Finger Lakes.

I did have one from Monterey.

I wouldn't like, I didn't
not like it as a wine,

but it was different.

Yeah, definitely.

I recently had one from Chile, actually.

It had nothing to do with it.

Yeah! Nothing to do with it.

Absolutely.

Yeah. It was too warm, was too alcoholic.

Too neutral.

All of you essentially said that

you're not getting the
Atlantic anywhere else.

You're not getting these
soils anywhere else.

You're just not gonna
get that combo of things

anywhere else in the world.

This is our version of the nigiri.

And instead of the rice,
we use white tuna tartar.

Then we add a little bit of tomato,

and aromatic curves.

On top, there's a red tuna jelly.

And as you could see, it's finger food.

Really, really melt in your mouth tuna

like the so creamy, so rich.

Albariño is generally just
an amazing pairing wine,

especially with seafood.

The acid cuts through the fatty fish,

and the salty and citrus
character of the wine

compliments the savory dish.

Plus we have a saying in the wine world,

"If it grows together, it goes together."

Whenever you get into
wine, and you get into whites,

and you want to describe what salinity is

Albariño from Salnés
Valley, from Rías especially,

it will be the great variety to go with.

If you get one from Rías
Baixas, it's gonna have it.

Whereas like some wines in it,

like that may have it from other regions,

like no, a Rías Baixas wine is going

to have that character.

With Martin Codax I like
to show in a glass of wine,

what is Rías Baixas?

You can smell when you go through the beach

giving a walk, you can feel the seaweed,

all the saltiness that
you can feel in the ocean.

So it's very graphic.

Martín Códax. How did the name happen?

The name of Martín Códax is nice because

he's the name of a troubadour, a poet.

He write talking about the womans,

the love, and the sea.

We use our tradition to show to the people,

what is the region Rías
Baixas, and the Salnés Valley.

This is a blend made of Albariño.

It has also around 35% of Loureiro.

Give us bay leaf, pine, eucalyptus.

Okay. Those kind of fresh...

- Yeah. Very fresh. Exactly.
- Herbal character.

Roses as well.

There's these Arabic
candies that are like

rose water flavored candies.

And that's what I get on the nose.

Okay, cool.

For sure.

I will explain.

This is for my mother, ensaldilla.

My mother prepare
ensaldilla every Sunday for us,

but we prepare in a
different way, of course.

Okay. We use potatoes, sure.

We use fennel, onion and razor clams.

We don't use mayonnaise.

We use this razor clam emulsion.

On top, there is a cream
made with green pepper

from Padrón.

You use a spicy, quite a lot,

But it still actually
taste like an ensaldilla,

like a traditional one.

The high acid wine

cut through the creamy emulsion,

and the freshness of the wine

contrasted the richness of the dish.

Now what
makes this wine different

than the wine we had the other day?

It has one
year on the fine lees.

A year?

A year.

That's a long time.

Yeah.

I get why chef put
this in a burgundy glass,

'cause this has this beautiful

honeycomb creaminess that I would expect

from a lot of burgundy.

The lees, they add volume to the wine,

and also protect it from the oxidation.

Yeah. Because what happens is that

it still stays fresh, right?

If you get that creaminess from the lees

rather than from malo,

well then you still have this fresh wine.

I'm agreed too.

Okay. We'll continue with the fish.

In this case, this is sea bass.

What makes it different, this sea bass,

is how it is fished.

And how it was sacrificed.

With taking the blood
off, and with no stress,

you will feel the meat
is really, really white

because it has no blood inside.

And the texture is really
different, is really tender.

What we do is cook in low temperature,

and then we grill the skin.

On the bottom, there's a vegetable tartar

we made with turnip,
with celery, and with apple.

I'm loving this wine, actually.

It's a very complex version of it,

because this is a wine
that is a very serious wine.

And this may be one of the

best bites of sea bass I've ever had.

Chef warned me about
this dish before we came,

he's like, "You're gonna
try this sea bass, later.

It's gonna blow your mind."

It is mind blowing.

Seriously one of the

best pieces of fish I've ever had.

As the dishes got heavier,
so did our wine style.

The rich wine matched the weighty sea bass.

And of course, our other rules still apply.

This is De Álvaro de Bazán.

This is the wine that we
don't release every year.

It's our estate Albariño,

So all the grapes come
from the highest point,

actually from our estate.

It's really concentrated in flavor,

and I think that's a
lot of the point, right?

Yes.

You have, you have
some of the best grapes.

So it's really bursting in flavor.

Yeah.

I think I would describe it as

probably one of the
most mineral driven wines

we've had today.

For me, there are
spices, there are a pepper.

- Green... eh, black pepper...
- Ahhh.

It's also inside.

This complexity in Albariño
is difficult to achieve.

And it's only when you have

a good balance in the ripening,

and with a really good concentration.

Diego outdid himself.

This wine really showed the potential

of just how complex Albariño could be.

What is everybody drinking

when they're not drinking Rías Baixas?

From Spain, for me, from Galicia.

White wines, from Galicia,
for example, Ribero.

From Galicia.

I love that answer.

Valdeorras and Ribero,
for me, are my favorites.

I gave you anywhere in the world to say,

and that's what you're
drinking in your own home,

is really cool.

And that makes me want
to dive deeper and find more.

While the winemakers agreed

they all love the other
wines from their region.

I may have sparked a debate as to

their second favorite wine regions.

This is sirloin,
okay? In this case.

Yeah, on top, there is, there's a salad

we prepare with fresh
herbs and with callophyllis.

The callophyllis are the plants that grow

just on the border of the sea,

and takes the saltiness of the sea.

On top there is Macadamia nut.

Oh this is a Macadamia nut.

He's not Parmesean.

It's not cheese.

Macadamian nut, and peanut cream.

Yeah.

I have no idea what
this is gonna taste like.

Amazing!

They were right.

Like everything else, it was amazing.

What was more amazing was
how even in a formal setting,

Pepe could make you feel like

you were dining in his family restaurant,

and that he cooked specifically for you.

Like you were a guest in his home.

And the different styles
of Albariño on the table

really did prove to me
the versatility of the grape.

It was a perfect last meal in Rías Baixas.

El Camino de Santiago;

The Way of Saint James.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people

walk for weeks, making the pilgrimage

from all over Spain, Portugal, and France

to reach this destination,
the capital city of Galicia,

Santiago de Compostela
and its famous cathedral.

It's said to be built

over the burial site of St. James.

One of only three places in the planet

to have been constructed over the tomb

of an apostle of Jesus.

St. James is said to have spent his life

in what is now Spain,

preaching in Galicia until he was captured,

tried for heresy, and beheaded.

Regardless, it's nice to know that while

St. James may have not gotten

the recognition he deserved in life,

his legacy and death is

preserved and revered by millions.

He's now the patron saint of Spain.

Throughout my week here,

I suppose I've made a bit
of a pilgrimage of my own.

When I started writing this episode,

I thought, "What a strange wine region."

Rías Baixas really doesn't
make much sense on paper.

A wet, rainy, Spanish-Celtic hybrid

that devotes most of their time and energy

to only one grape?

But then you arrive here,
and it all comes into focus.

The people don't just
live their traditions.

They love them.

They're not bound by them,

but they choose to embrace them anyway.

And still they're unafraid
to throw caution to the wind

and try something new.

To innovate, explore in the interest of

helping the region grow.

And just like the people who travel here

from all over Europe, you may not get it

until you take the walk,
or taste, for yourself.

I hope you enjoyed Rías Baixas,

and we'll see you next
time on "V is for Vino."