Rías Baixas
Pazo San Mauro Albariño 2007
Of the main regions of Rias Brixas, Condado de Tea is the least represented in Australia. The region is a bit more challenging than Val do Salnés and O Rosal, its a more inland with river valleys, a touch warmer and the soils are more solid and slatey. This wine is made by Cristina Mantilla, who also makes Valmiñor. Expect classic Albariño with plenty of flavour and a touch of minerals.
Martin Codax ‘Burgans’ 2006
A month or so ago I bought a bottle of this wine and the screwcap was faulty. I had the replacement scheduled for tasting on Monday night, when I got an email from the wine buyer for Vintage Cellars followed by a chat on the phone about closures and their range of Spanish wine. It turns out that there was a bit of a problem with this batch, about 1% of the batch had a faulty or loose screwcap. Still better than cork acorrding to most failure statistics. The fault has been noted and action is being taken to resolve the fault.
Mar del Frades Albariño 2006
This albariño is a little bit different to many of the wines we have seen here in Australia. And even though most albariños are food wines, this one is especially so. These guys really emphasise the relationship between the sea and the food and wine traditions of Galicia, right down to the blue bottle with waves at its base. There is also a little gimmick here, if you look at the larger image there is no blue ship on the front label. If you bung the bottle in the fridge for a bit, a blue ship will appear when the wine is cold enough to drink.
Martin Codax 2006
Just when I though I’d tasted just about every Spanish Albariño in Australia, two more pop onto my desk. That’s not quite true, I know there are at least two others I haven’t seen, but thats just semantics. This is another very good wine in the $30 price bracket, I don’t think anyone could complain about the range of Spanish whites that are available in this price bracket these days.
Adegas Galegas Dionisos 2007
This is a new wine for Ce Soir Imports, and it should be available later in the year. There is no sub region specified, but it has all the hallmarks of a wine from Val do Salnes. Adegas Galegas is a small producer that is part of the large Grupo Galiciano that make a huge [...]
Lusco Albariño 2005
It looks like the weather gods are having one last go at making it uncomforably hot here in Melbourne. 37 Today and plenty of 37-40 degree days for the rest of the week. So don't expect many tasting notes of big Reds from Spain this week, although thats mainly what's in the tasting pile at [...]
Granbazan Albariño ‘Amber’ 2005
I've been meaning to buy the 2006 of this wine for a while, I've been downing bottles of the stuff at bars but haven't written it up yet. So when I stopped in to Rathdowne Cellars and saw a bottle of the 2005, it went straight in the basket. The packaging on this has to [...]
Valminor Davila 2006
I thought I had cleared out all of the Albarino based wines in the tasting pile, but found this when I was looking for something to take to a Vietnamese joint down in Victoria Street, Richmond. Albarino really handles the spice and salt of many Asian style dishes really well, but its the seafood where [...]
Castro Martin 2006
I think this is the last Albariño in the tasting pile at the moment. I'll duck out and get some more over the Christmas break. This is the most fun albariño around, it has the most expressive albariño aromatic characters, doesn't break the bank and so easy to drink.
Castro Martin is made from estate [...]
Albariño de Fefiñanes 2006
Albarino seems to be flavour of the month at the moment in Melbourne. The 06s have landed and just about every bar I walk into has one by the glass. Unfortunately, most are served way too cold and the punters must be walking away thinking that albariño is Spanish for riesling. Of course its not [...]
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