Spanish accent: Albariño finds a home in California The happy-go-lucky Albariño grape, with its roots on the Iberian peninsula, is feeling at home here

Michael Havens replanted Albariño cuttings from Santa Barbara in a spot in southern Napa. Michael Havens replanted Albariño cuttings from Santa Barbara in a spot in southern Napa. Photo: John Storey, Special To The Chronicle Photo: John Storey, Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Spanish accent: Albariño finds a home in California 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

Albariño is an odd little grape, old as the hills but mostly guarding the home front in its native Galicia, in the damp Atlantic chill. Let Chardonnay and Riesling wander the continents. Albariño decided to stay home.

In doing so, an obscure little grape became one of the great successes of Spanish wine.

Since California and Spain are cultural and meridional siblings, why wouldn't we share in that pleasure? In 1992, vine cuttings thought to be from Adegas Morgadio, near the Minho River that marks Spain's border with Portugal, quietly arrived on these shores and were planted by Brian Babcock in Santa Barbara County.

Babcock wasn't enamored of his results. But a few years later, Napa winemaker Michael Havens visited Spain with his wife, Kathryn, fell hard for the grape, and replanted cuttings from Santa Barbara in a spot at the southern tip of Napa.

It was "a crazy place" to farm, Havens recalls - at the edge of San Pablo Bay's tidal flats, intruded on by salt and saltwater. But, hey, Albariño loves water.

Havens made a bit of wine in 1999 and debuted it with poached lobster during a dinner at Carmel's Highlands Inn. The timing was right. Anti-Chardonnay backlash was peaking, and Albariño's happy-go-lucky demeanor was a great counterpoint.

"The enthusiasm was almost universal," Havens says.

I've made a point for years now to taste our growing crop of domestic Albariños. The best versions offer precisely what has made Spanish versions so popular: Riesling-like aromatics, but without a razor's edge; the freshness of Sauvignon Blanc without the screech.

Not long ago, a European critic sniffed about the quality of U.S. Albariño compared with the motherland - which is funny, because much of the Galician stuff is nothing to write tu madre about.

A handful of exceptional examples can be found, both in Galicia (look for Do Ferreiro or Benito Santos) and across the border in Portugal's Vinho Verde region, where it's called Alvarinho. (Seek out Quinta do Feital and Soalheiro.) Mostly, though? Doldrums.

California rightly should love this grape. Albariño embraces climates both warm and cold, way more than Chardonnay. Its crop can be abundant, almost overly so.

The state's Albariño fetish has been fruitful. A year before Havens took the grape north, Syrah pioneers Bob and Louisa Lindquist of Qupé planted a bit in Santa Ynez Valley. Louisa's Verdad label released an Albariño in 2000, although not by name; the government wouldn't yet permit the grape variety for an American wine. Five years later, the Lindquists planted a couple of acres when they acquired their own Edna Valley vineyard. The cool of Edna Valley, near the coast, proved "serendipitous," to use Louisa's word.

Now a merry band of Albariñenos has emerged. Lodi grower Markus Bokisch planted some, and in 2001 donated cuttings to UC Davis, the country's first officially sanctioned Albariño vines. That year, Earl and Hilda Jones released an Albariño from their vineyard in Oregon's Umpqua Valley. Bonny Doon's Randall Grahm joined in, as did the Niven family, who planted 50-odd acres for their Tangent label near Edna Valley.

At the turn of the millennium, California claimed just 2 acres of Albariño. By last year, that had jumped to 217. It's a drop in the bucket, but from a very leaky tap.

Havens gave up his winery in 2008, but his Albariño bug persisted. He commissioned a new block on a hill above Napa's airport. The marine exposure and rare calcium-rich soils are perfect.

When he teamed up with winemaker Morgan Twain-Peterson for a joint project a couple of years ago, their mission was clear. Today the two collaborate on Abrente, an Albariño-only label. Along with Verdad, it's at the pinnacle of California's fancy with the grape - not necessarily profound, but peachy and deeply refreshing.

That's precisely what keeps Havens coming back to Albariño. "Trying to complicate it too much," he says, "is a mistake."

Wine notes In addition to the following two California wines, look for selections from Drew Family (Mendocino), La Marea (Central Coast), Bokisch (Lodi), Longoria (Santa Barbara) and Oregon's Abacela. 2013 Abrente Napa Valley Albariño ($23, 13% alcohol): From two sites in southern Napa, a perfectly taut balance of talc, peach skin, bay laurel and intense lime-pulp tartness. 2013 Verdad Sawyer Lindquist Vineyard Edna Valley Albariño ($22, 13%): From the Lindquists' biodynamically farmed site. Ripe and fleshy, like white nectarine pulp, with a pleasing astringency. Serve with dal.