2007 Amano Soave and 2008 Champalou Vouvray

An international pair of whites today, a vouvray and a soave.  I saw the soave mentioned on a cooking show so I decided to try it.

The Amano soave ran me about $13.  It hails from Gioia, which according to the map I pulled up is in the central part of the country east of Rome.

The soave had about the least acidity of any white I've drunk lately, nice fruity notes [the label says pears], maybe vanilla, slightly sweet.  It would be good with a light summer supper, maybe with a lighter meat like veal.

The vouvray ran me $18, and frankly wasn't worth the money.  It was drinkable, but you're paying for the import status, I think:  no nose to speak of or subtleties of flavor.  I've drunk better vouvrays.

2007 Marques de Caceres

Changing my Spanish whites slightly, I've been drinking a 2007 Marqués de Cáceres dry white from the Rioja region of Spain.  This is in the north central part of the country, not too far from the Pyrenees.

This wine is made from 100% viura grapes, which I'd never heard of.  Wikipedia has a good piece on them: "The grape is used to make mildly acidic and young white wines mostly suitable for early consumption or blending with other varieties, both red and white. It is often the main grape of white Rioja and is sometimes blended in small amounts with Tempranillo and red Garnacha, both in unoaked and oaked versions. It was introduced in Rioja after the phylloxera epidemic, where it largely replaced Malvasia and Garnacha Blanca, partially because of the ability of its wines to better withstand oxidation."

The label describes the wine has having a silky texture, which I'd agree with.  I didn't get their "floral aromas", and it definitely wasn't as fruity as the Spanish whites I've been drinking the last month or so.  It's definitely more acidic, though not obnoxiously so.  

The labels says it would pair well with seafood or hors d'oeuvres, which I think is pretty much on the mark.  I finished up the bottle with hamburgers [doctored up], and that wasn't the best pairing.

Not my favorite white, but it definitely has its place.

Two Ruedas

I've let this blog slip the last month.  I've drunk a few Spanish wines but haven't gotten around to writing them up.

Two ruedas today.  The first is a $9 2009 Emina Verdjo.  This is from a 'green' winery where they use a lot of recycled materials etc.  Hopefully not grapes.  They describe the wine as 'fresh and zingy like a great Sauvignon Blanc, but deep and expressive like a white wine grown in a high-plains dessert.'

  

I frankly didn't find it 'deep and expressive'.  It was fruity and good with a nice piece of Parmesan, but not much nose and no subtle depth of flavor.  It's a good everyday wine for $9.

The second wine is a 2009 Damana Verdejo that ran me $16.  Both of these are 100% verdejos.

I liked this one more; for $16, I should.  I noted honey flavors, maybe vanilla, and it was *really* good with Parmesan, they complimented each other.  This reminded me more of a good Sauvignon Blanc than the other one.  This would be a good wine for a nice dinner party.