A happy hour it was indeed as we lingered over a chilled bottle of Paco & Lola Albariño. This fruity Spanish white was flowing all around the tapas bar as Dallasites hid indoors from the 95-degree heat. At tables around the room, I could spy its cheery label peeking out from ice buckets like a pair of polka-dotted knickers.
Paco & Lola is the face of a cooperative of around 430 small growers in the Salnés Valley of Spain’s Rías Baixas DO. Founded in 2005, the brand specializes in easy-drinking white wines with a fun and youthful image. (“WE ARE THE POLKA-DOT WINE” their website proclaims in all caps.) Albariño is the most important grape in Rías Baixas, and Paco & Lola bottle several different expressions. They include the sur lie “Prime” Albariño, the oak-aged “Heritage,” and the popular “Lolo” critter wine.
The flagship wine from Paco & Lola is this bottle–yes, the one with the black and white polka dots. This unoaked, 100% Albariño is stainless-steel fermented at cool temperatures and aged on its fine lees for a short time before stabilization and bottling.
It pours up a medium yellow color with lime-green reflections. Aromas are mostly citric with cut lemon, grapefruit, and green-ish floral stems (tulip?). It’s mostly dry, medium-high in acidity, and just short of medium in body. Sipping it reveals more fresh lemon, white peach, nectarine, and a teasing flicker of honeysuckle and orange blossom. The soft florals and stone fruit are joined by a round flavor of green pear that becomes more pronounced as it warms up in the glass.
For such a light style of wine, it has a long and evolving finish–with lemon zest and tangerine zest and a slight, graceful bitterness. When the Solstice heat has ruined your appetite, it’s tempting to just have a pleasant, refreshing Albariño for dinner.
So, have I found my go-to for the Summer of Albariño 2025? Not quite. I feel like the nose leans slightly neutral on this wine. I prefer my Albariño to jump out and surprise me with bouquets of flowers like an over-eager first date. But not everybody likes perfume in their glass…and the aromatic shyness of Paco & Lola probably contributes to its ability to get along well with food.
All in all, this well-made Albariño is a wise pick for restaurant wine lists and warm-weather gatherings. It’s hard to imagine anyone disliking it.
Food pairing: We enjoyed this wine at Bulla Gastrobar (Plano, TX) with Tuna Tartare wonton crisps and a seafood-packed, saffron-scented Arroz Caldoso. At happy hour it’s $34/bottle, which is not a bad markup for a wine that retails for around $20.
Bottle: Paco & Lola Albariño (2023)
Variety: Albariño (100%)
ABV: 13%
Suggested retail: $19.99
My rating: 8.3 (out of 10)
Review disclosure: I was not compensated or provided any free products for this review. Opinions expressed on The Wine Fairy blog are entirely my own.
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