albariño

noun

al·ba·ri·ño

variants or Albariño

ˌäl-bə-ˈrēn-(ˌ)yō

plural albariños or Albariños

: a richly flavored white wine from the Galicia region of Spain

Good albariño can be very serious wine, with enormous intensity of flavor and a subtle, layered mouth-feel framing its lively acidity.—

John Winthrop Haeger, Saveur, May 2006

also : the grape from which this wine is made

Grown on the rainy, green Galician coast, Albariño is Spain's breakout white grape. —

Richard Nalley, Food & Wine, September 2002

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Galician albariño "light-colored grape variety from which a white wine is made," derivative of albariño, diminutive or attenuating derivative of albar "white, bright white," probably going back to Vulgar Latin *albar- (in Latin albāris, albārius "of stucco or stuccowork"), from Latin albus "white" + -āris -ar

First Known Use

1972, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of albariño was in 1972

See more words from the same year