Rías Baixas
Adegas Galegas Dionisos 2008
dionisos-008Albariño season has reared its head a bit early this year, its been bloody hot for the last couple of days in Melbourne. Perfect for sitting in the yard with a bowl of clams after the sun goes down.Pitty I didn’t have any clams. I know I always go about shellfish with albariño, its only because its a perfect combination. If you haven’t already seen it, have a look at Spain on the Road again…. for an example of what happens in Galicia. However, if you do watch it, have the remote handy. Mario Batali must be one of the most boring and annoying people on TV, and there is plenty of him waffling on about crap in each episode he’s in…he should stay in the kitchen.
Granbazan Albariño ‘Amber’ 2007
From the fairly classic, but low yielding 2007 vintage comes this funky bottle of Albarino. I do like the packaging on this stuff, very old school but some how appealing. I always seem to come to the late in the game, the 2008 should almost be here by now. The amber bottling is from the first free run juice, there is also the green bottle which I think includes a bit of pressings…but I’m not sure if its imported these days.
Castro Martin Albariño 2007
I needed to take a quick snapshot on the way out, so the old ‘leaning’ photos from previous Tinto y Blanco themes has made a bit of a come back. It’s been a while since I’ve had a bottle of Castro Martin, so I decided to take this one out for some seafood. I was hoping for clams, but settled for salt and pepper squid along with some scallops with lemon grass and chili at Thanh Thanh on Victoria Street. Magic stuff.
Lagar de Cervera Albariño 2007
I’ve been watching Spain…on the Road Againover the weekend (it’s on foxtel at the moment). Its a very annoying show, the gang go to these great locations and amazing restaurants, but all they seem to show is shots of the girls in convertible Mercs and mind numbingly boring conversation between Gwyneth Paltrow and Mario Batali. I’m obviously not the target audience, but the episode on Gallicia is well done and gives a good sense of the food and wine of Rias Biaxas. Worth a look if you are interesting in doing a wine and food pilgrimage to Spain…
Martin Codax Albariño 2007
As much as I’d love to keep raving on about Rioja every day, Spain is a big place and there is loads of terriory to cover. So Albarino it is for today, while tomorrow I’m catching up with the guys from Vega Sicilia to look at their new releases. There seems to be heaps of activity on the Spanish wine front in Australia at the moment. Anyway, this 2007 from Martin Codax is a monte for easy drinking….
Pazo Pondal Albariño 2007
This is the big brother to the Leira, and its quite a step up. I’m not sure which sub-zone this is from but it looks and tastes like its from O’Rosal (ie similar to Valminor). This is more in the tight, minerally acid expression of albariño that I have an ever so slight preference for.
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Pazo Pondal ‘Leira’ Albariño 2007
A box of white wines turned up the other day, which would be perfect if we actually had some summer weather here in Melbourne. Pazo Pondal is not a producer I have seen before, they have this wine from Condardo de Tea which is more inland and swampy than the two sub regions that most of the Albarino we see comes from: O Rosal and Val do Salnés. There is a little sticker saying Robert Parker 90 Points on the bottle, as usual I am a few points behind…
Castro Martin A2O Albarino 2006
This is another wine from Castro Martin. It used to be called Avian, but due to a large water brand getting a bit nervous it is now called A20. You can read the full story over here on their blog. The whole thing is a bit silly really, but I think the new name is very appropriate given the circumstances.
Valmiñor 2007
The number of retailer’s I’ve heard say “you’ll be on to a winner if you put some albariño underscrew cap and charge $20 for it” is amazing and they’re right. Well this goes halfway there, screwcap really suits the style too. Of course, I can’t really tell if it’s the vintage or the closure without a cork closed bottle to compare with, but this is the freshest tasting albariño I’ve had outside Spain or Portugal.
Albariño de Fefiñanes 2007
Spring is finally here. And it’s not the weather that’s telling me that, its the 9 Spanish rosados and bunch of whites that are sitting in the tasting pile. Many of them in screwcap for the first time. The warmer weather is great, but I’m regretting having a fair bit of grass in the yard. I can see I’ll be out with the mower every couple weeks again soon. On the upside, daylight saving starts 3 weeks early this year, so I’m looking forward to getting out to the BBQ after work.
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