Rodrigo Méndez 'Cies' Tinto 2021

You might think you know Albariño. It’s simple, mass-produced, and unambitious, right? Not to Rodrigo Méndez. He is one of Spain’s most brilliant winemakers, and he is producing serious fine wines in Rías Baixas, levels above what most of his neighbours consider possible.

We are in the Val do Salnés. All around is Albariño country, where supermarket-conquering, box-ticking wines are the currency. The vast majority of producers here like it that way, but Méndez aims higher. From a selection of vineyards around his home village of Meaño, he crafts vineyard-specific fine wines that each carry a unique signature.

His approach is defiantly old school. Discarding the safe, character-stripping technology that now dominates local production, he farms organically, uses only wild yeasts and has brought back old oak barrels. He also makes red wine - a regional rarity - reviving unregarded local grape varieties.

When we first tasted these wines, we were astonished by their level of detail. They are beautifully structured, with excellent ageing potential, yet complete and satisfying already. Above all, they do what only skilfully crafted, genuine fine wine can do - they capture the character of a place in a bottle. In a region where industrialised wine has long been the standard, they are a revelation.