Caíño blanco

Caíño blanco or Cainho branco is a white Spanish and Portuguese wine grape variety that is grown in northwest Spain and northern Portugal in a stretch of area between Vinho Verde and the Denominación de Origen (DO) of Rías Baixas.

[1] Ampelographers believe that Caíño blanco is native to the northwest Iberian Peninsula and was likely the result of a natural crossing between Albariño and Azal tinto.

Caíño blanco has been growing in the Spanish wine region of Galicia and northern Portugal since at least 1722 when it was first mentioned so the crossing between Albariño and Azal tinto would have had to occur sometime before the 18th century.

[1] In 2008, there were 58 hectares (140 acres) of Caíño blanco growing in Spain, virtually all of it in the northwest Spanish wine region of Galicia where the grape is a permitted variety in the Rías Baixas and Monterrei DOs.

In Rías Baixas, most of the plantings of Caíño blanco are found in the O Rosal area in the province of Pontevedra where it is often blended with Albariño.