Morrisons The Best Albariño Calamata 2024 | A Supermarket Surprise from Rías Baixas

A Wine That Punches Above Its Weight

I opened this Morrisons The Best Albariño Calamata 2024 expecting a decent supermarket white wine. What I got was something that genuinely expressed where it came from.

On the nose it was almost elderflower led with a muted peach note sitting underneath. Floral over fruit for me, which immediately caught my attention. In the glass it was fresh and zippy, carrying that elderflower character through alongside subtle stone fruit. The acidity was lively without being aggressive and everything finished with a lovely saline, mineral note that reminded me exactly why I enjoy Albariño from Rías Baixas.

Not bad at all for a supermarket own brand wine.

The Food Pairing

Tonight’s menu was king prawns to start followed by grilled hake, baby potatoes and peas.

The prawns deserve a mention of their own. These were the dark raw king prawns from the fishmonger’s counter at Morrisons. I marinated them in a mild red chilli, two cloves of garlic and a good quality olive oil before flash frying them.

They were a thing of beauty.

The wine and prawns worked brilliantly together. The sweetness of the prawns seemed to bring out a little more fruit in the wine while the garlic and olive oil complemented the saline, savoury edge that was already there.

The hake took things up another level. The fish had a lovely grilled finish, the potatoes gave the dish some substance and the peas added a touch of sweetness. Everything seemed to slot into place. The acidity cut through the richness of the food while the wine’s mineral character mirrored the coastal freshness of the fish.

This was one of those pairings where neither the food nor the wine was trying to dominate. They simply made each other better.

A Lesson in Supermarket Wine

One thing this bottle reminded me of is that there is a big difference between a cheap supermarket wine and a well sourced supermarket wine.

At £12.75, this sits in that sweet spot where retailers can work with genuine producers and preserve some sense of regional identity. Looking at the back label, this wine is made in partnership with Bodegas Pazo Cilleiro in Rías Baixas, and that regional character definitely showed in the glass.

The floral aromatics, bright acidity and saline finish all pointed back towards Galicia and the Atlantic influence that makes Albariño such a fantastic seafood wine.

Final Thoughts

Wine often gets judged on its own when the reality is that many wines are built for the dinner table.

This Albariño was enjoyable before food, but alongside the prawns and hake it became something far more impressive. It was fresh, balanced and full of character without ever trying too hard.

A reminder that some of the best wine experiences don’t have to come from expensive bottles. Sometimes they come from a supermarket shelf, a good fish counter and a simple meal cooked well.

Score: 90/100