From Atlantic Spain, a fresh white wine shows off its lovely fruit

As I write this on a warm, early autumn day, I am reminded that many fruits on the farm stands are at their peak: the last of the peaches are being scooped up as the apples and pears take their place; there may still be some berries around.

What made me think of this was a gorgeous white wine I am tasting from the Rias Baixas region of Galicia in northwest Spain -- the 2014 Abadia de San Campio Albarino from Bodegas Terras Gauda.

I have tasted this wine many times before. Never has it been this delicious, suggesting that 2014 must have been one heck of a vintage in Rias Baixas. Albarino is the region's most important grape and is in its glory in this $19 bottling, bursting with ripe tropical fruit and rich lemon tastes, fresh and lively with great balance between fruit and acidity.

I also detected a touch of brine, evoking the Atlantic orientation of Rias Baixas. In fact, I want to drink this wine with fish -- all kinds of simply prepared fish (but no rich sauces, please) and shellfish. Smoked salmon also comes to mind.

It's wonderful as well on its own,  a sophisticated and crowd-pleasing white whose alcohol is a lean 12 percent. Made without oak. My kind of wine, all around.

Imported by Avenu Brands, Baltimore, Maryland. Received as a press sample.


        

In the under-$10 wine crapshoot, an impressive Spanish white

In the middle of summer, I crave fresh, lighter white wines, preferably with little or no oak but with good complexity and a price that will permit me to buy plenty of them to have on hand to sip with weekend lunches, before dinner or with the fresh fish and shellfish. 

With those requirements, I tend to gravitate to the wines of the lesser-known appellations of France, Spain, Portugal and Italy, which can still offer excellent values. One of them is  Avelino Vegas’s 2013 “Abadía Real” verdejo-viura blend, a $9 Vino de la Tierra from the large Castilla y León region of northwest Spain.

In the classification hierarchy of Spanish wines, Vinos de la Tierra are a step below  Denominación de Origen wines, but as this one shows, they can over-deliver on quality for the price, which is exactly what I’m looking for. With modest alcohol of 12 percent, the wine is both easy to drink and interesting, with pear, white peach, tropical fruit and subtle vanilla notes. An impressive summer value. Imported by Spain Wine Collection, Congers, N.Y.

Sips: Marqués de Cáceres’s superb 2011 “Deusa Nai” Albariño

Marqués de Cáceres is a big producer based in Spain’s Rioja region, but the winery, it turns out, also bottles a terrific wine from Rías Baixas in Galicia in the northwest corner of Spain. This is white wine country where the most important grape is the indigenous albariño, which is either bottled as a single variety or blended with others. Marqués de Cáceres’s 2011 “Deusa Nai” Albariño is made exclusively from the variety and is among the best of a dozen or more albariños I’ve tasted this year. It’s a wonderful wine for fish and shellfish or on its own as an aperitif. Pear and grapefruit tastes are accented by floral and mineral notes and a touch of vanilla. The price is about $14 and although production is limited (about 6,600 cases), the wine appears to be widely available based on a check of Wine Searcher.

Sips: Some of this summer’s best new rosés

Dozens of rosés have come my way in recent weeks, and in my latest MSNBC column I highlight ten outstanding wines from Spain, France, Portugal, Austria, Washington and Oregon, where they are making some superb rosés of pinot noir in the Willamette Valley. I was struck by the inherent value of these ten wines. They pack a lot of complexity for $20 or under (just one of them had a suggested price of $20) and they demonstrated again that rosés are not only great aperitif wines, but are highly versatile food wines that can be enjoyed with everything from fish to grilled meats. I have always thought that rosés can and should be enjoyed throughout the year, although most people view them as a rite of spring and summer. Most rosés currently available are from the 2011 vintage, but those from 2010 I tasted were just fine. Because there are so many good rosés available, I’ll have another list of standouts later in the summer.

del.icio.us Tags: Rosés,Spain rosé,Austria rosée,Washington rosé,Oregon rosé,Portugal rosé,France rosé,Edward Deitch,Willamette Valley rosé,MSNBC wine

Sips: From Spain, a memorable white wine from the year the Berlin Wall came down -- R. López de Heredia’s Viña Tondonia Reserva

Perhaps no producer makes the case for aging white wine better than R. López de Heredia, the famed Rioja traditionalist whose wines are typically aged for a decade or more, including years in oak barrels, before release. I got to experience one of these unique wines again last week at dinner with friends at a New York restaurant. All of us ordered fish – sea bass, skate and sea scallops -- and I wanted a  fairly robust white wine that would hold up to the panoply of sauces and reductions. The sommelier suggested a Spanish chardonnay-viura blend, but right above it on the wine list I noticed López de Heredia’s 1989 Viña Tondonia Reserva. Yes, 1989. This 22-year-old white wine – Tondonia is the name of the vineyard -- was a deep golden color but still had a wonderfully fresh aroma that also suggested the slight oxidation that occurs with such age and that is an intriguing hallmark of López de Heredia’s white wines.

The blend in this vintage was 90 percent viura, the main white variety of Rioja, and 10 percent malvasia, and I was struck by the wine’s still-vibrant acidity, which confirmed my instinct that it would be a superb match for our food. Then, as it warmed up and opened up a bit, the complexity emerged – pear, some butterscotch, subtle raspberry and cherry notes followed by orange and cedar on the back end. A bit sherry-like? Yes, but with fruit that was still fresh and vibrant even though it was harvested the year the Berlin Wall came down. While it appears that the 1989 vintage is no longer available at retail, wine-searcher.com lists a number of mid-1990s vintages in the $40 range. Viña Tondonia is a unique and memorable wine to sip slowly and contemplate from a producer that teaches us the value of tradition.

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Sips: With a simple fish dinner, Wild Horse’s superb California verdelho

Sometimes, the simplest meals are truly the best, those that take advantage of the freshest ingredients, the bounty of the season and, of course, just the right wine. The other night proved the point in our house. Is there anything more basic than the freshest flounder fillets broiled with white wine, a sprinkling of fennel seeds and some dabs of butter to give the fish that wonderful, slightly crispy finish? Or, with broiled fish, plain white rice that acts like a sponge to soak up the juices? As for a vegetable, there’s nothing simpler than some just-picked lima beans from a local farm stand, steamed and served with a pinch of salt and a little  butter. The meal was superb in its simplicity and full of outstanding flavors, including the deliciously subtle, slightly nutty taste of the limas.

Clearly, the wine was going to be white. Chardonnay in any number of styles, depending on your preference, would have worked. Sauvignon blanc? Perhaps a bit too aggressive. What about something different? I found the answer in Wild Horse Vineyards’  2010 Verdelho from Paso Robles in California, which turned out to be an excellent match. I think of verdelho mainly as a signature white variety of Spain’s Rioja, although Wild Horse says its wine is inspired more by Australian verdelhos, which I imagine are somewhat richer. In any event, this estate wine is a pleasing, sophisticated verdelho that is at once rich and refreshing and belies its 14.5 percent alcohol. With tastes of pear, herbs and lime, it has a long finish and is a first-rate food wine.  It’s nice and fresh, with 90 percent of the blend aged in stainless steel and the rest in neutral oak. It’s also priced well at $22. Production is limited, with a couple of hundred or so cases made, and it is available only through Wild Horse’s website. It’s well worth ordering.

Technorati Tags: Wild Horse Vineyards,Wild Horse verdelho,California verdelho,Paso Robles,Paso Robles verdelho,Edward Deitch,Spanish wine varieties

Video: Five great summer white wines

Last night I joined Chuck Scarborough on his NY Nightly News program on WNBC’s New York Nonstop Channel to talk about five exciting white wines for summer. For detailed information about the wines, see the post just below this one.

View more videos at: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/

Technorati Tags: Domaine Felines Jourdan Picpoul de Pinet,Picpoul de Pinet,Edwad Deitch,Channing Daughters,Channing Daugters Sauvignon Blanc,Sella & Mosca La Cala Vermentino di Sardegna,Sardinian wine,Viore Verdejo Rueda,Spanish white wines,Trapiche Torrontés,Chuck Scarborough,New York Nonstop

Sips: Five Top White Wines for Summer

When I was asked to put together a summer wine segment and appear on WNBC’s New York Nonstop channel, I immediately thought of lighter whites that are easy to drink, match well with a variety of simply prepared foods and are good values. Beyond that, I wanted to introduce viewers to some wines they might not have heard about that are very much worth exploring. With that in mind, I chose five wines from five countries, each made from a different grape. What unifies them is that they are refreshing as both aperitif and food wines, especially with fish and simple chicken dishes, and are made without fermentation or aging in oak. Although I have nothing against chardonnay, I decided to keep chardonnay out of the mix this time around because it is so well known and popular. So, enjoy these five whites with your summer dining. I’ll have many more to share in coming weeks.

Channing Daughters 2010 Sauvignon Blanc “Mudd West Vineyard,” Long Island. $20. Light, delicate and elegant sauvignon from this Bridgehampton winery. The wine is made from grapes grown in a North Fork vineyard and shows subtle green apple, herb and citrus notes.

La Cala 2009 Vermentino di Sardegna, Sardinia, Italy. $12. A delicious example of this Mediterranean variety, this is an easy-to-drink yet interesting wine that will pair well with a variety of foods. Pear and apple notes and a good deal of minerality. A natural for linguine with white clam sauce. Imported by Palm Bay International, Boca Raton, Florida.

Domaine Félines Jourdan 2010 Picpoul de Pinet, Languedoc, France. $13. One of my favorite wines of the summer so far. Picpoul de Pinet is the name of the grape and it’s grown only in Languedoc very close to the Mediterranean Sea. The domaine, which I visited last month on a tour of Languedoc, overlooks oyster farms, and the wine, in fact, is just perfect with oysters. Very fresh with a little brininess, good acidity and lots of complexity. Notes of lemon, herbs, a little honey and vanilla and a good deal of minerality on the finish. Imported by Gabriella Importers, Bohemia, New York.

Viore 2010 Verdejo, Rueda, Spain. $9. I’ve been tasting a lot of verdejos in the last month or so and was newly impressed with this variety, which is the most important white grape in the Rueda region. This one is quite racy and almost jumps out of the glass. Complex with notes of apricot, tangerine, some herbs and smoke on the long finish. Imported by Vintage Wines, Staten Island, New York.

Trapiche 2010 Torrontés, Mendoza, Argentina. $8. Torrontes has become a new darling among fresh and lively white wines, and I saved this one for last on tonight’s TV segment because it’s the most aggressive of the five whites. The variety is highly aromatic and this one, beyond the flower notes, is like biting into an orange. It’s a warm-weather thirst quencher and a real bargain at just $8. Imported by Frederick Wildman and Sons, New York.

Swirls: NY supermarket wine sales, wine & weight loss, a 13-year-old rosé

SWIRL: Legislation aimed at changing how wine is sold here in New York is once again making its way through the Legislature in Albany. On one hand, it seems lawmakers may finally be heading toward the right balance when it comes to permitting grocery  stores to sell wine, while also giving liquor stores more flexibility in what they can sell and to whom. The Times Union has a good editorial on this today. At the same time, Dr. Vino.com has an interesting item on another New York bill that would curtail the ability of restaurants to purchase interesting older vintages from collectors and other sources, bypassing wine distributors.

SWIRL: If you’re trying to lose weight, are eating less but just don’t see much of a change, it could be those two or three glasses of wine you’re drinking. A survey of 2,000 people in Britain found that fewer than one third had an idea how many calories there are in a standard glass of wine (134). Read more about it in Scotsman.com and Marie Claire.

SWIRL: As we head into high season for rosé with lots of 2010 releases, most of them to be drunk within the next few months, Jeremy Parzen highlights one of the world’s ultimate rosés in the Houston Press -- R. López de Heredia 1998 Viña Tondonia Rosado Gran Reserva. Yes, a 13-year-old rosé that, like most wines from this great Rioja producer, is aged for years in barrels before release. They are singular wines, providing a unique tasting experience.

Technorati Tags: Wine sales in New York supermarkets,Grocery store wine sales,New York Legislature wine,Times Union wine,Dr. Vino.com,Restaurant wines,Wine and weight loss,Scotsman.com,Marie Claire,Rosé,Jeremy Parzen,Houston Press,R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia Rosado Gran Reserva,Edward Deitch,Wine and health

Swirls: the top imported wines for quality and value – consumers and the wine trade weigh in

In terms of wine quality, which countries stand out the most to consumers? The question was put to more than 600 wine consumers in a survey by Wine Opinions, an Internet-based research firm. Wines were divided into four categories: whites/rosés under $20, reds under $20 and reds in the $20 to $50 range. The results:

• When it comes to under-$20 whites and rosés, more consumers rated the wines of Germany, New Zealand, France and Italy “outstanding” than those of other countries.
• For reds under $20, the wines of Italy, France, Spain and Argentina came out on top.
• For reds in the $20 to $50 range, France and Italy got the highest marks, with each rated outstanding by fully two-thirds of consumers, while roughly half gave the reds of Spain, Australia   and Argentina top marks.

What countries do best when it comes to value? Wine Opinions put that question to more than 200 members of the wine trade.

• For whites and roses under $20, the leaders were Argentina, Spain, Chile and Portugal. Despite a lot of lower-priced Australian whites on the market, Australia was at the bottom of the value chart in this category.
• When it comes to reds under $20, Argentina led the way, followed closely by Spain and Chile. Italy and France were somewhat lower.
• As for more expensive red wines, those priced at $20 to $50, Spain, Argentina, Italy and Chile were the value leaders. All were  considered “good” or “outstanding” in this regard by about three quarters or more of the respondents. France’s rating was relatively low, at 59 percent, “an indication of the difficulty France is having in this price category,” according to Wine Opinions’ analysis of the results.

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Swirls: Free case of wine? Which region would you choose?

I know I’m going a bit heavy on the surveys this week, but I was stuck by some of the results in a newly released study on attitudes toward imported wines. It was conducted by Wine  Opinions, an Internet-based research company that focuses on attitudes and preferences of frequent U.S. wine purchasers and consumers  and members of the wine trade. Among the findings:

• Argentina and Chile have seen major gains among consumers buying their red wines over the last couple of years, leading all other countries  in growth.
• Italy, New Zealand and Australia, saw significant increases in white wine and rosé purchases and, along with France and Germany, are the leading countries consumers turn to for these imports.
• Respondents from the wine trade say they’ve been selling a lot more wine under $20 from Argentina, Chile and Spain since the start of the recession in 2008, which is not surprising given the emphasis on value wines from those countries. Also not surprising: roughly a third or more say they are selling less wine in the over-$20 category from just about every country.

So, a lot of growth, it appears, in New World wines over the last couple of years. However, on the intriguing question -- from what country would consumers want to receive a free mixed-case of wine? – the Old World wins hands down. France was the first choice among 30 percent, Italy second at 26 percent, followed by Australia at 13 percent and Spain at 10 percent.

The results were based on responses from 642 consumers and 214 members of the wine trade. I’ll have more from this survey in coming days. For more information about the survey you can contact Wine Opinions at info@WineOpinions.com.

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Sips: from Spain and beyond, albariño is a top white wine for summer

Albariño is the signature white of the Galicia region in the northwest corner of Spain. One of the attractive qualities of albariño is its fresh vitality; the grape tends to be high in acidity and the wines are made without oak, which allows for a pure expression of the fruit. They are great for these warm summer days and will match with a variety of white-wine dishes, from fish and shellfish to chicken and salads. Some of the best wines come from the Rías Baixas sub-region within Galicia, including  Vionta’s exceptional 2008 Albariño. I loved this $18 wine from the first  sip with its tastes of green apple, a bit of pineapple, subtle floral notes and lemon-lime and minerals on a lengthy finish. It’s the kind of wine that easily invites you back for another glass. Another thing it has going for it is alcohol at just 12 percent or so (the bottle says 12 percent while notes from the winery say 12.35 percent). Imported by Freixenet USA, Sonoma, California.

Spain is not the only place where albariño is grown. It is widely planted just across the border in the Minho region of Portugal where it is known as alvarinho and is sometimes part of the blend in vinho verde, or “green wine,” which is named for its freshness. Beyond Spain and Portugal, some producers are having success with it in California’s Santa Barbara County, chief among them Richard  Longoria, whose 2009 Albariño Clover Cree Vineyard from the Santa Ynez Valley follows in the footsteps of the excellent ‘08 vintage. It has a lean elegance with delicious melon, citrus and floral notes. Light, interesting and easy to drink.  Alcohol is a welcome 12.5 percent and the suggested price is $23. Production was just 134 cases so you might want to check availability at Longoria’s Web site. (Wines received as press samples.)

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Sips: More bubbly notes

A quick addendum to my last post on Limoux, the sparkling wine from France’s Languedoc, with some other sparklers in the news.

Some of the best examples of Cava, the Spanish sparkling wine, are considered by Eric Asimov in the NYT’s Wines of The Times; two  ubiquitous and inexpensive cavas, Freixenet Cordon Negro and Cristalino, didn’t make the cut.

And something you might not have known: they make sparkling wine – very good sparkling line – in England. And the industry, it appears, is being helped by the unanticipated effects of climate change, according to an interesting piece in today’s Wall Street Journal. Who knew there were 416 vineyards in the U.K.? Or that one  of the best bubbly makers, in southern England, has chalky soils like Champagne’s and is less than a hundred miles to the north?

del.icio.us Tags: Cava,Eric Asimov,Wines of The Times,Edward Deitch,English sparkling wine,Wall Street Journal wine

Sips: a winning Spanish blend

Let’s start off the week with a very good, widely available red wine for everyday drinking and beyond. As I’ve written many times before, wines with catchy names help establish brand identity but are sometimes more memorable for their names than what’s inside the bottle. A Spanish offering called Red Guitar is distinctive on both counts and outperforms expectations.  This 2008 Navarra made from old vines is an appealing blend of tempranillo (52 percent) and garnacha (48 percent), Spain’s two most important red varieties. Tastes include spicy raspberry and dark chocolate with a firm tannic grip. With nice complexity, it will match well with all kinds of foods, from burgers and steaks to pizza to Spanish tapas. At about $13 or less, it’s a top value from the up-and-coming Navarra region, which borders Rioja in northern Spain. Imported by  International Cellars, Gonzales, California. (Received as a press sample.)

del.icio.us Tags: Navarra,Spanish reds,Edward Deitch,Red Guitar,Under-$20 wines,Tempranillo,Garnacha,Spanish blends

Dry Valentine’s sparklers

As Valentine’s Day approaches, I can’t think of a more classic pairing for chocolate cake than pink or red sparkling wines. To prove the point, I’ve been pairing slices of the belated chocolate birthday cake my wife baked for me with both dry and sweet bubbly this week. A couple of dry wines stand out.

Look for Nicolas Feuillatte’s Champagne Rosé Brut. This salmon-colored wine with a suggested price of $48 is fresh and yeasty on the nose with perfumed raspberry, cassis and citrus notes. It’s light on the  palate with strawberry and lemon notes and a creamy finish. Clean and focused with fine bubbles. The blend is 60 percent pinot noir, 30 percent pinot meunier and 10 percent chardonnay.

Cava from Spain is one of the world’s top sparkling wine values, and Freixenet is the leading brand, well-known for its under-$10 wines. A nice step up is Freixenet’s “Elyssia” Pinot Noir Brut rosé, at $18.  Its fruity aromas suggest cranberry and yellow peach; in the mouth a Maraschino cherry note, a little bitterness and very ample acidity make for an interesting and rewarding combination.

Look for some “sweet” suggestions in my next post. (Wines received as press samples.)

A Spanish red with some age

If there is a downside to tasting so many new releases, it is that they are, well, new. While many wines – red and white – are intended for early drinking, especially those at the lower end,  higher-quality wines will almost always improve with age. The point was driven home to me again the other night when, after opening a newly released red from France, I had a yearning for something with a few years of bottle age.

After a quick search of my home wine collection, I pulled a Spanish red from the rack. It was from the Ribera del Duero region -- Prado Rey’s 1999 Reserva, which is 95 percent tinto fino (tempranillo), three percent cabernet sauvignon and two percent merlot. As I recall,  this wine didn’t leave much of an impression when I tasted it on release four or five years ago. But now, a decade into its life, it had started to come into its own. The fruit, a combination of dried red berries and fig, was joined by an appealing earthy rusticity and a backdrop of muted cedar. Still quite tannic, it had several more years to go before reaching its prime. But this taste, in midlife, foreshadowed even better things to come. Wine, indeed, is one of the things in life that improves with age.

2009 Thanksgiving wines

In case you hadn’t noticed, Thanksgiving wine advice is coming in fast and furiously, and I thought I’d share my own take on the subject with my annual MSNBC Thanksgiving wine column.  As

you’ll see, there are any number of ways to go. I’d also like to know what you think. Do you have a favorite red or white Thanksgiving wine? Let me know by leaving a comment below.