Delicious Galician food and Albarino wine pairings

The biggest wine festival in the world is a celebration of Albariño! If you can’t make it to Galicia this year, here’s how to bring a sip of Spanish festivity into your own home with these delicious Albariño wine pairings.

Sommelier Sarah Tracey sets the table for an Albarino feast

All about Albariño: the main grape variety of the Rias Baixas region

Rias Baixas (REE-ahs BYE-shahs) is a DO (denominación de origin) in the Galicia region of Northwest Spain, where the king of all grapes is Albariño! The ideal Albariño wine pairing is seafood: razor clams, octopus, mussels, sea scallops, and percebes (aka ‘goose barnacles)’ are all plentiful in this cool coastal region.

In Rias Baixas, there are five subzones, each with a slightly different terroir: Ribeira do Ulla, Val do Salnés, Soutomaior, Condado do Tea, and O Rosal. The wines from these different subzones each have their own expressions-- however, they all share similar characteristics. Albariño wines from Rias Baixas are crisp, fresh, and dry; and full of floral aromas, citrus flavors, and ripe summer fruits like peach and melon. You might even uncork a bottle with a hint of salty minerality in the finish-- and be transported straight to northern coastal Spain. And the best time to travel there? August, for the annual Festa do Albariño!

The party of the year in Galicia: Festa do Albariño

The biggest wine festival on earth happens in Rias Baixas every year in August. In the town square of Cambados, visitors can taste up to 60 different Albariño wines from different producers! You can also enjoy parades, street performers, fireworks, local food, and the traditional music of the area, which surprisingly is an ode to Galicia’s Celtic heritage with plenty of bagpipes and Celtic folk sounds. If you want to truly feel like you’re there the next time you pop a bottle of Albariño, check out this playlist on Spotify for a taste of the traditional music! The crowning moment of the Festa is the final day when a prestigious ceremony honors the top wines of the festival.

Table set with Galician food and Albarino wine pairings

How to Throw Your Own Festa do Albariño

These mouthwatering Albariño wine pairings are the next best thing to being there! Stock up on some of Rias Baixas’ famous wines, set a colorful table, and check out these simple recipes.

Here’s what’s on the menu:

Empanada Gallega

Empanada Gallega is a large, flat, savory pie (different from the Latin American empanadas, which are snack-sized individual hand pies). This pie is huge and impressive, with traditional decorative touches on the top crust (highly recommend you display your creation for your guests before slicing it!). I made mine filled with tuna and peppers and used this recipe as a base-- but I added garlic and paprika and smoked paprika to the filling for a little extra flavor. I loved the rich olive oil crust! It’s a great Albariño wine pairing with Pazo Pandal Leira Albariño 2018, which is hand-harvested and partially organic. The wine has herbal and fresh-cut grass aromas, pear, and nectarine on the palate, with a lean mineral finish-- perfect to offset the richness of the Empanada Gallega!

Empanada Gallega with a rich olive oil crust before going into the oven

Empanada Gallega fresh from the oven: a true showstopper!

Fried Padron Peppers

Super traditional in Galicia, pimientos de Padron are served fried in olive oil until blistered, then sprinkled with sea salt and lemon. The saying, ‘some are hot- some are not’ is associated with these because about one in ten is crazy spicy when the rest are mild. They are addictively delicious and straightforward to prepare-- if you can’t find Padron peppers, shishito peppers are closely related. Pair them with Paco & Lola Celebration Albarino 2018, which is fresh, crisp and zesty with lemongrass, ripe pear, white grapefruit.

Padron peppers are addictively delicious— shishitos can be used as well.

Salpicon de Mariscos

This delightful seafood salad recipe is courtesy of Tomiño Taberna Gallega in New York City. A refreshing blend of crab, shrimp, monkfish, peppers, and onions is tossed together with finely grated hard-boiled egg and tossed in an apple cider vinaigrette. Serve it well chilled, paired with Abadia de San Campio Estate Grown Albarino 2019, which is intensely aromatic, citrusy, and full-bodied. The recipe can be found below, enjoy!

Salpicon de Mariscos with Manzanilla olives is an ideal Albarino wine pairing

Salpicon de Mariscos

courtesy of Tomiño Taberna Gallega
1/3 pound boiled shrimp, diced to bite size
1/4 pound boiled Monkfish, diced to bite size
1/4 pound fresh lump crab meat, thinly pulled apart
2 hard boiled eggs, finely grated
*We recommend cooling everything before dicing.
1/2 Red Pepper finely diced
1/4 Green Pepper finely diced
1/2 Spanish Onion finely diced
Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl with 4 tablespoons of Spanish EVOO and 2 tablespoons of an Apple Cider Vinegar with a pinch of fine white pepper and salt to taste (maybe a pinch or two).
Garnish with anchovy filled manzanilla olives. Ready to eat just make sure it is served very cold. Buen provecho!

Thank you Rias Baixas Wines for sponsoring this post.

3 Fantastic Albariño Wine Pairings You Need to Try