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When it comes to white wine — especially as warm weather sets in — one of my favorites is albariño. Wines made from albariño (pronounced al-baa-ree-nyo) grapes tend to be crisp, lively and aromatic.

Frankly, they make me think of the sea. That’s because most of the albariño I’ve tasted comes from Spain’s Rías Baixas (pronounced ree-ahs buy-shuss), a Denominación de Origen (DO) in northwestern Spain on the Atlantic coast of Galicia. These wines are as refreshing as an ocean breeze and are a perfect match for seafood. They should be consumed young — albariño wines don’t age well — and they should be served chilled.

Although Rías Baixas is the most famous region for albariño, the grape is grown elsewhere. I thought it would be interesting to compare a wine from Rías Baixas with two from other regions.

For my control wine, I bought the 2010 Martin Códax from Rías Baixas. It can be found at a number of St. Louis-area retailers, including Randall’s Wine Spirits, 1910 South Jefferson Avenue, where it sells for $11.99.

This is a delicious fresh wine that’s bright and clean with citrusy flavors, zippy acidity and a 13 percent alcohol level. The Martin Códax Albariño works well as an aperitif, and it’s great with seafood and other light entrees.

For comparison, I chose the 2010 Castell de Raimat Albariño from the Costers del Segre DO in northeastern Spain, on the other side of the country from Rías Baixas. The Castell de Raimat is selling for $9.99 at Whole Foods, 1501 South Brentwood Boulevard.

The other comparison wine was the 2010 Grand’ Arte Alvarinho from Portugal’s Lisboa region on the Atlantic coast. (In Portugal, albariño is known as alvarinho.) The Grand’Arte is priced at $14.99 at the Wine and Cheese Place, 457 New Ballas Road in Creve Coeur.

I decided to enlist several friends to help me taste. While we all liked the Martin Códax the best, we were split on our second-favorite.

The Raimat was the most similar in style to the Martin Códax. I was pleasantly surprised because the Catalonia region, where Costers del Segre is located, is not known for albariño. Catalonia’s best known white varietals are parellada, xarel-lo and macabeo, which are used to make the sparkling wine cava.

While the Raimat has an inviting aromatic nose and clean citrus notes, it’s less crisp than the Martin Códax and lacks the zippy acidity. But it’s still a good wine at a nice price. This wine, which has a 12 percent alcohol level, would also make a good aperitif and pair well with lighter entrees.

I had expected the Grand’ Arte to be similar in style to the Martin Códax, because Rías Baixas shares its southern border with Portugal. However, these wines were very different. The Grand’ Arte is fuller bodied with more floral notes, a melon flavor and 13 percent alcohol.

While I liked this wine, it wasn’t what I expected. In fact, its richness and exotic flavors reminded me of viognier. This is a wine that is probably better sipped with food. It could stand up to grilled chicken as well as fish and seafood.

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