Well, last weekend we celebrated the annual Albariño Festival here in Galicia, or in Cambados to be more precise. The programme of events included one of my very favourite tastings of the year, when it is possible to taste more than 150 wines (mostly albariño) under one roof. It is known as the Tunnel of Wine, and has grown in popularity over the last 12 years, since the idea was originally conceived. Entry is now controlled to a maximum number of tasters during each session, but for me the solution is, and always has been, to arrive early and start at 11am prompt when the doors open. In this way I can normally taste in relative peace and quite for the first hour or so, and by that time I usually completed a few tables and so am well away from the entrance door.

I think that I have always said, since my very first taste of the tanks, that I consider the 2022 vintage to be pretty good, and this was indeed reflected in my notes. Overall the standard of 2022 wines is quite a bit higher than 2021 (which, after all, had proved to be quite a difficult vintage), and I believe that there were quite a few potential stars in the making – including our own Castro Martin wines, of course!

As more and more consumers are coming to realise, albariño wines from the Rias Baixas denomination can, and do improve with age, albeit some much better than others (it really depends on the producer and the style of wine they make). I fully believe however, that our own Family Estate wine could evolve into something really exceptional over the next year or two. Only time will tell.

Well, I wish I could say that today’s photo was taken this morning, or even recently, but the truth is that it has hardly stopped raining for the last month or so, many days (including Christmas day) being quite torrential. So when I say that has 2023 has started with a bang, I don’t mean from the fireworks, but rather from the thunder and lightning that was rolling around our hillsides as we opened our shutters to welcome in the New Year.

Here’s to a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2023 for all!

Greetings from a very wild and wet Galicia! It seems that this year we won’t be dreaming of a White Christmas, but simply that it would stop raining for a while – the last week or so has been wet, windy and very humid. However, I guess this is, at least, better than our friends and customers in the United States who are faced with mind (and toe) numbing temperatures.

As we all know 2022 has not been without its challenges, and can only hope that over time we will slowly recover from all the difficulties which have befallen us.

As this year comes to an end all that is left for us to say is that we thank you all for your continued support, and wish you a very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year.

We wish all of our friends and customers in the United States a very Happy Thanksgiving – we will raise a glass of Castro Martin albariño to you (also great with turkey!).

Whilst we do not celebrate Thanksgiving here in Europe, we have at least, inherited one of your other customs…. Black Friday. For us no turkey, no sweet potatoes, no pumpkin pie, just a bit of serious retail therapy!

Our local town of Cambados would normally be a hive of activity this week, as preparations get under way for the annual Albaiño Festival. The main event usually comprises about 20 booths set up around the town square where visitors can buy and sample albariño by the glass (and enjoy the summer sun?). This ‘tasting’ always attracts huge, thronging crowds, and so, owing to our ongoing Covid restrictions, was the first 2021 event to be cancelled.

Unfortunately, as the Delta variant has now started to spread locally, other events, such as the tunnel of wine tasting (my favourite tasting of the year), have also fallen by the wayside, and there is now little left.

The real pity is that after a few miserable, cool, grey days, we finally have a better forecast for this week – perfect for our annual celebrations.

Certainly this weather, from a vineyard point of view, is far from perfect, and despite the sun, it is still not going to be very hot (for the time of year).

Yesterday was a Bank Holiday in our local municipality of Ribadumia The reason? Not an albariño festival, but the annual fiesta of the Tinto de Barrantes which continues throughout the weekend.

Tinto de Barrantes does not have a denomination because the grape variety used, Folla Redondo (round leaf), is a hybrid and therefore not officially recognised. Local authorities are trying to register it as a wine making grape – a four year process, but even that is no guarantee that it will be accepted. The fundamental problem is that the EU does not currently allow any hybrid grapes to be used in wine making.

The tinto itself is a deep violet colour, and whilst it is very fruity and vibrant on the tongue, it also has a noticeably high level of (volatile) acidity, making it a bit of an acquired taste. Traditionally it is consumed from a white porcelain bowl or cunca (see photo), but is also well known for its tooth and mouth staining quality, earning it the nickname of manchamorros or pintalabios (lipstick).

With just a day to go before we start our Christmas break we are now just mopping up the final few gift pack orders, in the hope that they might still arrive in time for the holidays. Certainly it has been a year for buying online, even in Spain, where until recently it seems that many people were reluctant to trust in internet shopping (or perhaps it’s more the fear of losing their money?). Of course we live in a country where the vast majority of people still feel more at ease with face-to-face transactions, and to be honest, I don’t blame them, especially when we witness what is happening to our high streets. No doubt the 2020 pandemic has only helped to hugely accelerate the shift towards both online communications, and shopping (to the detriment of a great many, more traditional businesses).

As always at this time of year, our efforts are still very much focused on pruning, and the very changeable, largely wet weather is not making the chore any easier. They do however, say that there will be sun on Christmas Day.

With that in mind, we raise a glass to you all…. Stay safe, stay well and drink (Castro Martin) albariño!

Incredibly we are already half way through December and the Christmas break is almost upon us. Traditionally this is one of our busiest times of year, but perhaps not so much in 2020. With restaurant sales at more a less a standstill (for fairly obvious reasons), we have to rely on our internet and gift pack business. Whilst we are very lucky that at least a few of our business customers still have the wherewithal to afford gift packs, regrettably non of this business is overseas and is focused purely on our own domestic market. Still, better than no business at all.

So with the gift packing business continuing inside, the rest of our team battles against the elements out in the vineyards. The recent cold and wet weather has simply made the job of pruning just that bit more unpleasant. Not a job for the faint hearted!

This week the town of Cambados would normally be bracing itself for the start of the Annual Albariño Festival…. but not this year. At great economic cost to the town, the vast majority of events have been cancelled, for obvious reasons. The centrepiece, and biggest money-spinner, would normally be the Festival itself, whereby the town square would be lined with stands from the various bodegas offering the chance to sample their wares (albeit ‘sample’ is perhaps something of a euphemism that others might describe as more of a ‘binge’).

The tasting competition is still happening, although the big celebration lunch and presentation of prizes, normally held at the end of the festival, has also fallen victim.

One of the few surviving events is the tunnel of wine, for me at least, the most worthwhile part of the whole festival. An opportunity to taste a large number of albariños all under one roof, in a relatively peaceful environment.

Now, how a large tasting will work under social distancing rules is another matter, but I will let you know next week. The only thing that I can say for sure is that I will have to remove my mask for tasting (although it is now compulsory for us to wear masks in all public places, subject to strict on-the-spot fines for non-compliance)!

Every year, as part of the Annual albariño festival, there is a ‘Tunnel of Wine’ tasting. There are usually between 150 and 200 wine to taste, the majority being albariño and mostly from the current vintage – this year the 2018’s. In addition there are a number of blended wines (many that include albariño in the mix), a table of red Rias Baixas wines, a table of sparkling wines, and three tables of older vintages (often presented as the ‘prestige’, limited edition wines).

If you refer to my recent notes about the 2018 vintage, you may have read that I consider 2018 to be a-typical, and this theory was largely supported by the tasting. For example, there were very few albariños in the room with less than 13% alcohol, some with 13.5% and even one or two with 14%. In circumstances such as this then it is really down to the winemaker, and how they are able to ‘handle’ the alcohol and ensure that it is well-integrated into the finished wine. For example, there can be nothing worse than an albariño with alcoholic ‘afterburn’ (a slight burning sensation in the throat), in a wine that is normally considered to be light, clean and refreshing.

Of course, many of the top bodegas have still made very good wines (albeit there were also one or two slight disappointments). On the other hand, there were also a few wines that provided a pleasant surprise too – always an opportunity to discover something new or perhaps a label that you didn’t really know before.

Having said that, the best wine in the entire tasting was a 2015 wine on the prestige table. Although I must also say, trying to be completely objective for a moment, that our very own 2018 Castro Martin fared rather well too – certainly in my own top 10!