Albariño, Rias Baixas, Spain 

A zesty & mouth-watering coastal white from the western edge of Spain! Is this wine or is this the ocean in a bottle fooling us? Bodegas del Palacio de Fefiñanes have been making salty & soft albariño on just a half-hectare plot since 1904 – and after making it for over 120 years, tending to some of the oldest vines in Galicia, they’ve really figured the grape out! We often recommend albariño (or gruner) for those who want to take a curious step outside of the pinot grigio comfort zone, but with this bottle’s gingery twist, lemon verbena thang and sophisticated sensibility it would be an even braver pick for a dry-white lover – and one that would impress consummate oenophiles everywhere. Drinking it is like wrestling ocean waves wanting to lose. Shell-smell on the breeze! Involuntary sinus saline rinse! A seabird scream! Ride the waves belly first and let them spit you up on shore. Run at them again. Ask your friends to pick the sharp pebbles off of your half-bare ass; it’s their honour. Drink this out of a clean shell alongside fancy beach picnic foods like sturdy chips & tinned octopus.