Orange Wine Albariño, Martín Códax 75cl
An orange Albariño from one of Galicia's most respected producers — Martín Códax taking their signature white grape and treating it like a red, fermenting and macerating on the skins to make something with far more grip and colour than any Rías Baixas you have met before.
Albariño usually never touches its skins; here it stays in contact with them for around six months, an experimental, ancestral approach that pulls tannin, structure and that amber hue out of the fruit. It is still recognisably from Val do Salnés — the Atlantic salinity is in there — but the winemaking transforms it into something altogether wilder.
The colour is amber with an almost iodine glint. The nose is savoury and unusual: candied orange and marmalade, russet apple, a note of crushed rose petal and dried herb. The palate is where it earns its keep — full-bodied, structured and gently tannic, with juicy citrus, dried apricot, wild herbs and a saline edge from those coastal roots. The fresh acidity and food-friendly grip make it far more versatile at the table than its curiosity value suggests.
This is a bottle for the curious drinker, and a brilliant gateway into orange wine given the pedigree behind it. At around £19 it is fair value for a well-made skin-contact wine from a serious name — pour it for anyone who thinks they know what Albariño does.
How to Serve
Serve cool but not cold, 10–12°C, in a large glass to let the aromatics open. A short decant helps it breathe. Best with food rather than solo.
Where to Drink It
Planque in Haggerston, natural-wine territory through and through. Brat in Shoreditch for the wood-fired cooking. Dandy on Maltby Street for something adventurous.
Food Pairings
The tannin and texture love bolder flavours — try it with roast pork belly, a plate of jamón, or a spiced tagine. It handles food that would flatten a normal white.
