In the old world, wine and food have a very intimate relationship. The Galicians in Spain are proud of their seafood, and there are few better wine options to accompany a great Galician dish than a local albarino, many of which retail for around $15 too, or less.

The cool, rainy Rias Baixas DO (Galician for “Lower Rias”) on the Atlantic coast of Galicia and its Portuguese neighbor Vinho Verde are unique terroirs for the generally hot Iberian Peninsula where white winemaking in these two countries is often less considered than the red — a mistake if you’re looking for quality and value! The high-trained pergola trellis and albarino’s naturally thick skins make the damp weather less of a problem but can create wines with good phenolic concentration, peachy and citrusy aromatics, refreshing acidity, and sometimes a seaside “minerality.”

As with a few Spanish whites, albarino can be versatile in style, partly for its already high-quality potential, partly because it adapts well to winemaking decisions by winemakers, from the yeast, aging vessels, malolactic fermentation to lees contact. These variables can create a large range of quality wines from a crisp, linear, and zingy style to a fuller, richer, and riper wine with more weight and oak adornments. The best wines express the subtle complexity of the variety and their unique terroir characteristics that define them, are often zingier and more mineral, and can be nuanced and intriguing. Some also do a short maceration to give the wine a bit more phenolic bite, adding a touch more structure, tension, and depth.

Today, high-quality albarino is by no means a Spanish specialty. Portugal increasingly delivers very bright, minerally, varietal alvarinhos in Vinho Verde, which are far more interesting and serious than the simple, low-alcohol, and slightly spritzy mouthwashes the region had a name for. Many new world countries also contribute a smaller quantity of albarinos and often in excellent quality. In Uruguay, for example, we have found Bodega Garzon and Bodega Jose Ignacio (by Hans Vinding Diers), among a few names, make memorable wines out of albarino that might shape the future wine scene in South America.

Yet albarino’s stronghold today still centers around Galicia’s dynamic wine region Rias Baixas, where producers concentrate in the coolest, coastal Val do Salnes, and to a lesser extent in the slightly warmer inland Condado do Tea, and the southern tip O Rosal, where the wines deliver more subtle peachiness and mineral characters like its Portuguese counterparts.

The following 11 wines all scored 92 points or more but only retail around $15—a terrific price point for the highly drinkable and high-caliber albarinos. After all, you don’t need to spend a lot on excellent bottles. But if we go beyond that price, I consider Bodega Zarate and many of the Raul Perez’s wines worthy names to note down. Both produce serious, terroir-driven wines from the old parcels that can age well. That said, most of the albarinos remain a current, offhand refreshment on their own or ideally with some light seafood.

– Zekun Shuai, associate editor in Beijing