Something new for summer
For those of you who know me or frequent the winery and our summer impromptu lunch parties this will come as no surprise… I love Rose as a summer sipper and realy think there’s nothing better than hangin round outside by the pool (which I don’t have- tho we do have a hose) with a chilled glass full of light raspberry and strawberry flavors. Yum!
But I have a new love called Verdelho that’s makin’ its way to a store shelf near you. Now I can already hear y’all ask “What the *#$@ is Verdelho? Well its a white wine from- you guessed it- Spain and its sorta like an exotic Sauvignon Blanc without the grass. Think mangos and melons and tart acidity. Molydooker of The Boxer fame makes one called the Violinist and Scholium Project’s Naucratis is quite possibly one of the most intriguing wines to cross my lips this year.
Another day, another rioja
Last night a couple pals brought over a bottle of “cheap” rioja to have with dinner. In a departure from my usual Spanish menu, since it was a nice warm evening, I fired up the grill and cooked up a lamb/beef combo burger called Lulu (an Armenian dish) and so was pleasantly surprised when they pulled out the wine. The earthy – dustiness and light red berry notes paired well with the food and was surprisingly tasty wine. The 2006 Campo Viejo for $10 is a killer buy. Get it here or here.
Tasting the 2003 Pujanza Rioja
Last Thursday we had the first Tempranillo and tapas night at my house. Several pals dropped by (mostly for the novelty of watching me cook) and tasted a bottle of rioja I’d recently picked up in our local wine emporium. Our rating system is pretty straight forward: the scale is 1-5 stars with one being horridly vile plonk (I’ve judged a few in competitions, though thankfully its rare) and 5 stars which is a wine you should run, not walk, to buy.
The 2003 Pujanza Rioja is a blend of 90% Tempranillo and 10% Graciano. Our consensus is that it has medium bodied aromas of cherry, raspberry and white peppercorn. The predominant flavor is of raw cocoa powder and light red cherry. The wine was served with two Spanish dishes: Plate 1: A mild chorizo baked in a moderately spiced variation of patatas gravas. The wine went very well with this dish. Plate 2: A chicken and spicy chorizo pealla.
The wine as a stand alone and with Plate 1 got a consensus rating of 3.5 stars but with Plate 2 it did not fare as well; the wine simply lacks the body to stand up to the richer flavors in the paella. So for this pairing the wine gets 3 stars.
Overall the 2003 Pujanza Rioja is a decent but unexciting 3.5 star value at $25 so long as its paired with mild dishes.
