Quinta Couselo Turonia Albarino Rias Baixas 2021

If you’re looking for that perfect summer white that punches way above its weight class, you simply cannot overlook what the Rias Baixas region has been able to produce over the past decade. Here in the Spanish Galacia, the coastal gems cut off these rocky vineyards produce some of the most food friendly wines that also seem to be the wine world’s answer for a scorching hot day.

When talking about wines that deliver the highest of QPR (quality/price ratio) scores, more and more I find myself reaching for crisp, minerally Spanish white wines that deliver remnants of that special Sancerre cut at far, far juicier price points.

For hundreds of years, the wines made in Rias Baixas have developed side by side with the region’s native shellfish – making it hard to find a better wine to pair with seafood. The area has been largely isolated from the rest of Spain for generations and that’s kept the wine prices far lower than wines of this quality would be from anywhere else in the world.

But as is always the case with a good thing, the press is starting to catch up. Two years ago Rias Baixas was Wine Enthusiast’s “2020 Wine Region of the Year”. But last year they got their biggest boost yet when one of their wines made its way onto Wine Spectator’s coveted 2023 Top 100 Wines of the Year list.