Señorío de la Tautila Blanco

Airén is the workhorse white of central Spain, planted more widely than almost any other grape on earth and rarely the star of anything. It suits this job, because the job here is staying fresh and aromatic after the alcohol comes out. The wine ferments in tank as normal, then gets dealcoholised by vacuum distillation at low temperature right before bottling, a method the winery calls the least aggressive available and the reason the aromatics survive. The glass is pale yellow with a clear, perfumed nose leaning citrus. The palate is fresh and varietal and finishes on a mild bitter note that stops it turning simple. Serve it between 8 and 10 degrees. There is enough structure here to sit alongside food rather than be sipped on its own, so rice dishes, seafood and appetizers all work. 750ml at 0.0% ABV, roughly 22 calories per 100ml.