Hi folks,
In this participation in the #marketfriday organised by 
On the 22nd of June I visited with some friends the Martín Codax wine cellar located in the town of Cambados (Galicia-Spain).
There, we booked a guided tour of the winery with a final tasting of three of their best-selling wines.
During the visit to the winery, we were explained the history of the winery, the origin of the name of the winery (it is the name of a troubadour from the 13th century) and we were shown the whole process of harvesting the grapes, the process of fermenting the must and bottling the different types of wine that the brand sells. However, due to an error on my part, I do not have the photos of this part of the visit because I accidentally formatted the memory card of my camera.
On the other hand, the second part of the visit consisted of a tasting of the three main wines of the winery, for which we had three glasses on our tables with the corresponding name of each wine on the tablecloth.
At the same time, next to the glasses, each participant in the tasting had a small paper bag in which inside there were some small breads to be used to clean the mouth between each change of wine and also to accompany the appetizers that we were given between each of the wines we were going to taste.
The first wine of the tasting was the winery's best-selling and most produced wine, which is their classic Martín Codax. A young white wine made from Albariño grapes with a very pale yellow colour and without any particle defects. For this first part of the tasting we were recommended to make a contrast on a white background in order to perceive the colour and the absence of imperfections in the wine.
A second step of the tasting was to teach us to perceive the intensity of the wine by smell. By placing the glass at waist height, chest height or nose height, we could say at what point we perceived the wine's aromas. This gave us an indication of the strength and intensity of the wine.
Subsequently, the tasting of the first wine continued with the perception in the mouth, in which we took a small sip of wine, sucked in a little air and had to indicate which aromas we interpreted (salty, citric, flavours of other fruits, floral aromas, etc.). In this wine, as it is a young wine that is not aged in barrels, the aromas are very fresh, with marked acidity and a certain salty flavour due to the proximity of the sea to the Atlantic Ocean (barely 1 km away).
Finally, with this first wine we were told what dishes it would pair well with. Types of fish, types of aperitifs, types of white meats, etc. And in turn, they provided us with the first of the tapas with this dish which consisted of prawns accompanied by a green apple and pink sauce salpicón which was delicious.
In the second wine of the tasting we repeated the steps carried out in the previous wine, which is the characterisation of colour, intensity of smell and tasting in the mouth.
This second wine, being a more mature wine (2 years old) and having undergone a longer fermentation with its corresponding yeasts and that part of the fermentation is done in wooden barrels, the colour is more intense as well as its smell. As for the taste in the mouth, it is a more astringent wine with a stronger flavour due to a certain taste of wood from the barrel.
As it is a more intense wine, the main pairing would be fish, but a more intense fish such as mussels accompanied by seaweed on a cream cheese and green apple. A dish that is a luxury.
The third wine of the tasting was one of the most elaborate wines of this winery, named after a 13th century musical instrument played by the Galician troubadour Martín Codax.
It is a wine with a longer ageing in barrels and with a greater intensity in the mouth and as you can see in the glass on the right a more golden and intense colour due to its ageing in barrels.
As it is a more powerful wine, the dish we were served at the tasting was a sardine on a red pepper pate on corn bread. As you can see, it is a white wine more suited to stronger flavours and even an accompaniment to certain types of pork or beef.
After the tasting, we went into the main building of the winery where there was a display of the main wines of the winery.
There were also other liquors on display, such as orujos, which are also made by distilling grapes.
Apart from the white wines, which we had tasted in the displays, there were also red wines made from other types of local grapes.
And there was also a section of sparkling wines made with grapes from the region.
But what really caught my attention was this mannequin dressed in one of the traditional costumes of the region.
Finally, because the wine I liked the most at the tasting was the Martín Codax Lias, this was the wine I bought in the shop.
The price was 19.95 euros, which is a good price for the quality of this Albariño wine from the 2020 vintage.
In addition, the total cost of the visit to the winery and the tasting was 18.50 euros, which is a good price for the one hour visit and the one and a half hour tasting of the three wines.
I look forward to returning to Galicia and visiting other wineries to learn more about this type of wine with the Rías Baixas designation of origin.
Best regards.
Cover and separators created with https://www.canva.com (free version).
Photographies taken with my iPhone SE.
This post is my entry to #MarketFriday organized by @dswigle
