Spanish Stars at Unbeatable Prices – Albarino & Mencia Deal

Galicia’s Best-Kept Secret: Albariño & Mencía from Casa Monte Pío

I love finding producers who fly under the radar, and Casa Monte Pío in Galicia is one of those quiet gems that delivers much more than expected—especially at their new pricing. With a new importer on board, the 2023 Albariño “Raxeira” has dropped from $31.99 to just $19.98, offering one of the best values in serious white wine we’ve seen this year.

Located in the heart of Rías Baixas, Casa Monte Pío is a small, family-run estate focused on clean, expressive wines from native Galician grapes. The 2023 Raxeira Albariño is grown in the Val do Salnés, the coolest and most coastal subzone of the appellation, where granite soils and Atlantic breezes yield wines with piercing acidity and clarity. This is not your soft, easy-going Albariño—it’s a wine with real cut, texture, and mineral tension, showing saline citrus, green apple, and just a touch of white flower on the nose. It’s fermented and aged in stainless steel with native yeasts and a light touch of lees contact, resulting in a wine that’s both zippy and layered, perfect for pairing with seafood or enjoying as a refreshing aperitif.

This is Albariño with structure, energy, and a clear sense of place—a wine that drinks well above its new price point. It’s the kind of bottle that sommeliers pour by the glass for its precision, and now it’s finally priced for everyone’s fridge.

Also available is their 2022 “Benquerido” Mencía, grown in the Ribeira Sacra style but labeled Rías Baixas. It’s a juicy, spicy, violet-scented red with the lift and freshness we love in cool-climate Galician reds. This makes for a great summer wine with a slight chill, and it is great for a grill out back as well. But it’s the white wine that truly stands out as a category-defining value in the world of Spanish whites.