Before each Sunday Night Supper Club, we gather to sample wines and make decisions on which ones will best represent the dinner theme and complement the menu. The Spanish white wines for our most recent dinner presented a surprising challenge. In our first round of tasting, we sampled eleven wines – two sparkling, two Sherries, and the rest still. The wines came from several different regions and were mostly made from indigenous varietals, in other words, grapes that are considered Spanish rather than international varietals such as Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc. We were certain that we would find five wines that we could all agree on, but we could not. On to round two and another dozen wines!
One of the wines that I had selected thinking it was primarily Macabeo was the 2007 Bodega Pirineos Mesache White. We decided to not even open this wine because it was actually a blend dominated by non-Spanish grapes: 30% Chardonnay, 35% Gewurztraminer, and 35% Macabeo. Also called Viura in the Rioja, Macabeo is one of the varietals used in making Cava.
The Pirineos Mesache is from the Somontano area in Aragón. It is unoaked and has a medium golden color. The wine shows off its aromas immediately, with lots of tropical fruits, especially pineapple, perfume, and some honey. It makes me think that the Gewurztraminer had a big impact here. This wine does just fine on its own with a good balance of acidity and body, but would also go well with food. Overall, quite an enjoyable wine, but one that was too “international” in style to be part of the tapas and Spanish white wines dinner.
Marques de Caceres is a producer whose wines are widely available. Their 2008 Rioja Blanca, made of 100% Viura, is crisp, lemony, and lively. The nose is fairly intense and has lots of citrus, particularly lemon, apple, and some tropical notes. My first taste had banana flavor, which was quickly overtaken by that everpresent lemon and some minerality and grassiness. It has very high acidity and a short finish.
The 2008 Martin Codax Albariño would have been a great addition to the dinner. I have had it before, but in the most recent tasting I was reminded of what a very good value this wine is. The nose reminds me of honey Greek yogurt with melon and pear. It is very inviting. The mouthfeel is pleasant with moderate acidity and a lasting flavor of pear, honey, and spice. It has a fuller body than than the Caceres Rioja Blanca.
There were a couple of other wines that did not get opened during the second round of tasting, so we try them, we’ll post their tasting notes here, too.
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