Welcome to the 24th issue of

Killer Juice
May 2008

Spanish Whites

What’s your favorite Spanish wine? My guess is that the vast majority of individuals that consider themselves to be wine savvy don’t have one. And chances are, if you’ve got a favorite Spanish wine it’s probably red.

While the white wines of Spain are gaining in popularity they still aren’t very well known here in the states. Two of my favorite Spanish whites are Albarino, (that is the name of the grape) from a region called Rias Baixas, and Rueda (that is the name of the region) produced from the grapes Verdejo, Viura and sometimes Sauvignon Blanc. I have turned lots of people on to these wines and have yet to meet anyone who wasn’t pleasantly surprised.

Martin Codax Albarino is one of my favorite wines. Produced from 100% Albarino grapes this wine shows nice acidity and freshness. Flavors and aromas of apple and melon round out this delicious Spanish white. I tried my first Albarino quite a few years ago. Then the acidity of the wine was so intense that it felt as though I was drinking Alka-Seltzer. I was so turned off that I refused to even try Albarino for a number of years. But that was then, the wines being produced today are balanced and accessible. Regularly priced at $14.99, Martin Codax Albarino is on sale for $12.99 while our supply lasts.

Ovacion Rueda is another of my favorite Spanish whites. Produced from 40 year old vines, Ovacion Rueda is a blend of 60% Verdejo and 40% Viura. This wine begins with a nice juicy burst of tropical fruit and citrus, but finishes dry. This is pool party wine, not to dry, crisp, refreshing and unique. Regularly priced at only $11.99 this wine is one of the best values in the store!

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Masi Campofiorin

Let’s continue our wine journey down the road less traveled. Masi Campofiorin is a delicious full bodied Italian wine from the region of Verona. It is a blend of 70%Corvina, 25%Rondinella and 5%Molinara, the same grapes used in the production of Amarone.

Masi created a technique called appasimento. Fermented wine from fresh grapes is re-fermented with 25% whole semi-dried grapes of the same varieties. The result is a full bodied red wine combining simplicity, grace and power. Masi Campofiorin shows ample aromas of plum, cherry and spice. On the palate the wine is rich and velvety, showing bitter cherry and hint of licorice.
This wine pairs well with grilled or roasted red game and mature cheeses. This delicious wine is sale priced at only $14.99.

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Bordeaux Basics
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Bordeaux 2005 is the world’s most expensive young vintage ever! The 2005 vintage will go into the history books alongside other great modern classics from Bordeaux. The Wine Spectator has rated this vintage an incredible 98 points. While I plan to discuss this vintage in greater detail as more wines are actually available for purchase, this article is dedicated to one of the world’s most misunderstood wine categories...Bordeaux.

Bordeaux wines take their name from a port city in the southwest of France. Bordeaux has about 2.3 million acres of vineyards, 57 appellations (legally recognized growing regions) and roughly 9000 producers. With an annual production of over 700 million bottles, Bordeaux produces large quantities of everyday wine as well as some of the most expensive wines in the world.

The wines from Bordeaux can be either red or white. Red wines generally (but not always) are made from blending grape varieties. The grape varieties allowed in the production of red Bordeaux are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec and less commonly in recent years Carmenere. While all of these grapes are permitted in the production of red Bordeaux, most wines are a blend of the first three. White wines are produced from Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Muscadelle.

Now, this is where things are going to get a bit tricky. How do you know what’s in the bottle? There is no simple answer to this question, but there is a general rule of thumb that applies to the red wines of Bordeaux. French wine law determines which grapes are permissible in wines from different regions. Bordeaux is divided by the Dordogne and Gironde rivers. The regions on the right bank of these rivers are planted with 70% Merlot (which grows better here than it does on the left bank). The two major regions on the right bank are St. Emilion and Pommerol, these and most other right bank wines are dominated by Merlot. The Medoc and Graves-Pessac-Leognan lye on the left bank where Cabernet Sauvignon is king, thus these wines a dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon. So, if you can figure out which side of the river your wine came from you can have pretty good idea of what’s in the bottle.

Well there it is, now you know all there is to know about the wines from Bordeaux….hardly. These are just the basics, there is much more information about the wines of Bordeaux that I can include in a discussion of the basics. But, hopefully you now know a bit more about the region generally thought of as the ‘motherland” of wine.

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