2019 Granbazan Etiqueta Verde Albarino Rias Baixas Spain 750 ml

The 2019 Granbazan Etiqueta Verde Albariño, is a crisp, citrus-scented white wine that changed how we look at Spain, and Albariño in particular. Energetic, with lime zest and oyster shells, and soulful with unforgettable notes of peach blossom, it finishes with an unforgettable hint of salinity that only the best Albariños boast. From a country known for full-bodied reds, this is a stunning light white that flips the script and got us thinking Spain can do it all. 

Fans of Sauvignon Blanc’s zippy brightness will adore the Granbazan Etiqueta Albariño, while Grüner Veltliner drinkers will also find plenty of minerality to love in this white wine. Frankly, anyone who appreciates a wine that way over-delivers for the money will swoon, and we couldn’t resist bringing this wine to our members. 

Here it is, then: A wine that’s been crafted by one of the most exciting producers in Spain, from grapes grown in some of the best granitic soils in the region, and aged on its lees for four months to give it the 1-2 punch of freshness and complexity that makes it impossible to put down. It's no wonder Wine Enthusiast included this value icon on their 2020 Top 100 Wines list.

Rías Baixas, in the far northwest of Spain doesn’t look like a postcard from the land of bullfights and Jamon Iberico: Lush green hills are cut through with rivers, and the rolling coastal landscape has more in common with County Cork than Campo de Borja. But for us, what sets Rías Baixas apart from the rest of Spain is the wines: This is white wine country, where some of the best, most interesting and seafood-friendly bottlings are produced, none of them better than Albariño.

That oceanic climate is part of what sets this wine apart. Agro de Bazan is situated so close to the water that its influence can be felt in the texture of their wines, and tasted in the distinctly briny note that this 2019 showcases. Add that to the fact that Agro de Bazan, though a baby by Spanish standards—it was founded in 1988—is one of the most forward-thinking and proactive producers in all of Galicia, and you have a recipe for an unforgettable expression of world-class Albariño.