Benito Santos Igrexario de Saiar Albarino 2020

In terms of great, crisp white wines, very few hit the spot the same way as a delicious Albarino from Rias Baixas. A coastal winemaking region that’s almost entirely focused on making delicious salty and mineral whites, wines from Galicia have been made for centuries and are oftentimes spectacular. They also have the ability to mirror really well-made Chablis.

It’s one of those places where you had to get in early to get the prime real estate. These wineries have been passed down from generation to generation. Rias Baixas began gaining notoriety after the turn of the 20th Century, as a place where great white wines were being made.

Benito Santos was a big part of the Albariño movement in Rias Baixas, starting out as a young man working in his grandfather’s vineyards, making his own wine to serve in his bar. Soon his legend grew, and the locals encouraged him to enter wine competitions. He did, and he won them – over and over again, until Santos became a central instrument in founding the Rias Baixas D.O. in the 1980s.

He helped teach aspiring local winemakers his techniques, spawning a whole new generation of talent making salty, mineral and beautifully structured white wines that are a perfect seafood treat. No one can deny their appeal; not even one of the stingiest wine personalities in the world, Aldo Sohm.