Spain's Ultimate White: Albariño

I'm kind of in love with Spain. I've been there a few times and it's a fascinating place but what I'm obsessed with right now is the wine (obviously). I'm not alone in this -- Spain is super popular right now -- and I'm thrilled that we're all on the bandwagon of this country that was on the sidelines of wine for so long while it's neighbor to the east (that's France) got all the glory.

Through the many centuries of winemaking in the Iberian Peninsula, the two regions that have gotten major props have been Rioja and Jerez (Sherry region). That doesn't mean that the rest of the country hasn't made wine, just that they didn't have the marketing to get it out there.

One of the most interesting areas that was basically isolated from the rest of Spain is the Galicia (Gah-LEE-thee-ah) region. The area functions autonomously, even though it's part of Spain. It has its own Galician language and culture, which has a strong Celtic influence because a tribe from the British Isles settled here in the pre-Roman era. (When I say Celtic I'm not talking about the Boston basketball team, but the culture represented by four-leaf clovers and leprechauns (this characterization is not offensive at all, right? Sorry Irish friends, I couldn't help myself)). The best connection the region has to the rest of Spain is that it contains the famous pilgrimage site of Santiago de Compostela, to which people from all over Europe have trekked to pay homage to the relics of St. James (James =Santiago in Spanish).

The isolation of Galicia has meant that it's seen some rough times. Lack of any profitable industry has led people either to move to bigger cities, stay and be poor, or leverage their coastal location to get involved in cocaine trafficking (true story). Their best asset, some would argue, is a little white wine called Albariño.

Albariño, also known as Alvarinho in Portugal, yields delicate, aromatic whites that are high in alcohol, high in acidity, and have a ton of flavor. They are sometimes a little salty and always a great match with seafood.

Most of the producers in the Rias Baixas area (ree-ahsh by-shush, which means"low Atlantic inlets") are small guys who don't engage in bulk farming or harvesting. They grow grapes the old school way -- by tending to the vineyards and vines with lots of TLC and not a lot of expensive chemicals. Most of the vines are trained to grow on pergolas off the ground both so the Albariño can be ventilated and protected from the sea mists, since much of the vineyard land is adjacent to the sea. It has the added benefit of allowing the poorer farmer to slip in another crop below the grapes and make some money off of both. Ingenius, and a good use of space to boot.

After years of toil and hardship, finally these farmers are getting their just desserts. Looking for the next big thing, bigger wine companies from all over the world recently re-discovered Albariño and invested to modernize wineries so they can import this amazing wine that tastes like a Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc mated. From obscurity to wine lists and shelves all over the darn place, Albariño is in fashion. The Galicians who stuck it out and stayed in the area are now profiting from their little known wine secret and I think it's awesome...as awesome as the wine.

Martín Códax , in Rias Baixas is one of the co-ops of growers that is making it work. Started in 1986, it's a great little wine that's imported by the E&J Gallo Winery, who, despite it's monstrous size and tendency to homogenize all wines they import, make, or acquire, hasn't messed with the Códax too bad (although I think the initial vintages in 2006 & 2007 had more acidity, the wine is still great). Unlike some of the other producers out there, they haven't been experimenting with putting the wine in oak, which I think kills all the delicate aromas and great acidity that are inherent in the grape and the traditional styles of wine made from it.

This is a great wine and very widely available. Here's the deal:

The Wine: Martin Codax Albariño
The Grape: 100% Albariño
Where it's from: Rias Baixas, Spain
Alcohol: 13%
Vintage: 2009
Price: $15.99

Color: Golden and remarkably, brilliantly shiny and bright. The wine glistens like gold. And it has just a little bit of spritzy bubbles too. It looks so fresh!

Smell: The first things that came to mind -- Rose's lime juice, the ultimate Margarita mixer! The wine smelled like salt and minerals and it had a light smokiness too. Delicious and made my mouth water (although I think it may have been watering because it made me want a Margarita).

Taste: My first impression was lime Fruit Stripe Gum (if you're unfamiliar, it's a gum that was popular in the 80s that has a sugary, very strong flavor for exactly 17 seconds, at which point it needed to be thrown out immediately and replaced with a new piece) -- a little citrus-y, a little sweet. Then that Margarita mix character came -- lime with a little bit of briny salt. The wine tasted like minerals, had awesome mouthwatering acid, and just a little twang of a vanilla bean. It was a little creamy too, which was unexpected since Albariño usually doesn't go through malo-lactic fermentation, which is what makes wines creamy.

Pairing: No brainer. Any light fish, shellfish, or seafood. This wine isn't nicknamed "the wine of the sea" for nothing. Go with it. If you don't eat fish, go for pasta primavera in oil, salad with goat or feta cheese, spanakopita, or paella.

Drink or Down the Sink?: Drink. It's a great wine and terrific with food. My only objection is that it was better a few years ago. I liked the acidity, but the wine feels a little creamier and less distinctive and delicate than I remember it being when I last had it. Still, it's worth the money and is a great widely available Albariño Go for it.

Garnacha de Fuego: Still En Fuego

A long while back (when I first started the blog) I did a quick review of a wine in a horrible looking bottle. I remember liking it, but I hadn't seen it in a while and completely forgot about the bloated-Elvis-on-drugs-in-flame-licking-jumpsuit label.

The other night, I was picking up some stuff for dinner at the store and I saw a huge display of the heinous label of Garnacha de Fuego staring me in the face. Given that Rick and I had just done Garnacha as the Grape of the Week on the July 4th podcast, I was moved to throw down the $7.99 and try the wine again.

The wine is from the northern central province of Zaragoza (I love that name, BTW) in the Catalayud region of Spain. This area has produced wine since 200 BC and has the traditional Spanish wine story -- Romans started the industry, Muslims shut it down, monks picked it back up.

Catalayud is pretty high in the mountains with tons of rivers running through and a continental climate that's kind of cold for half the year. 85% of the wine made here is red and the same percentage is exported, so the 15 bodegas that make wine here definitely cater to an international palate (meaning, these are not exactly Spanish-style wines -- they make what they think we will like).

Most of the wine made in Catalayud is from the native Garnacha grape, and it's usually made well in my experience. Garnacha de Fuego follows suit. So although the bottle is really tacky, I'm still loving this inexpensive wine and calling it my guilty pleasure...

The Wine: Garnacha de Fuego
The Grape: 100% Garnacha
Where it's from: Catalayud, Spain
Alcohol: 14.5%
Vintage: 2009
Price: $7.99

Color: Opaque, violet, gloppy-legged blackberry juice...What a color. The only clue that it was Garnacha (which is usually much lighter): the color lightened to a cherry or raspberry color at the rim. The wine was definitely made of some very ripe grapes to give it all that color.

Smell: With raspberry and black cherry with lots of pepper, black licorice, and cinnamon spice, this was a wine with an opinion. There was a sweet oaky smell and there was a floral bouquet thing going on too. The prodigious alcohol in the wine was apparent: it burned the inside my nose. That burn and the other scents gave an impression of hot spicy fruitiness.

Taste: So textural -- you feel an alcohol burn that's warm, prickly and tingly. It's almost like drinking brandy, which I normally don't love in a wine, but given the rich fruit and spice the sensation reminded me of a yummy liqueur and I loved it. Raspberry, blueberry, and plum with licorice or anise (a spice that's like a mild licorice) balanced the prickly texture from the acid and alcohol. There was a little bitter almond flavor too. The warmth from the alcohol, cinnamon, and the carmelized berry flavor made the wine like liquid pie. It fills your mouth with deliciousness.

Pairing: Whip out the big, charred flavor. Steak, grilled stuff, portabella mushrooms, and anything cooked on an open flame is best. You need that burnt flavor to counterbalance all the fruit and alcohol. Although stay away from spice because your mouth will burn!

Drink or Down the Sink?: OMG, drink. For $8 this wine drinks like $20 and it's such a guilty pleasure. Is it the most complex wine around? No, but it's a tasty treat and all the rich, ripe fruit makes it a decadent, unbelievably yummy wine.

Wine For Normal People Radio : Episode 023 Wine Translations -- A Wine By Any Other Name Is EXACTLY the Same (Grape, That Is!)

Not only do "Old World" (Europe) and the "New World" (everywhere else) have different approaches to making wine, it carries through right to the way they name stuff.

In this 'cast we explain the reason for this and cover some major European wine names and what's actually in them... All are grapes you know and love, just masquerading as some other name.

Here are the show notes:

Shout-Outs -Amazing reviews on iTunes, posts on the Facebook page, comments from here and replies on Twitter

Main topic:

• A quick explanation of why Europeans name wines by place... it's all about the Romans
• The whites: Chablis, Condrieu, Vouvray, Sancerre and more
• The reds: Bordeaux, Burgundy, Cote Rotie, Barolo, Rioja, and more
• And grape of the week: Torrontes - the floral, peachy, yet acidic white of Argentina

Need a translation we didn't discuss? Let us know what we missed.

Please drop a comment below or on Twitter @Normalwine or on the Wine For Normal People Facebook Page.

Click here or download the podcast below...

Wine Translations -- What Are You Drinking?

Also, if you lie the podcast, please review us on iTunes and we'll give you a shout out!

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An Affordable Bordeaux That's Only Getting Better: Château de Camensac

I love French wine. Why? Because the wines from there really do taste like the land in which they grow and that's not the case with all wine. I can never mistake what I call "the Bordeaux stink," the funky, earthy character of every red Bordeaux I've ever had. A friend of mine always teases me that I like my wines dirty...ok, I'm guilty.

I've covered Bordeaux in my Bordeaux Primer, so I'm not going to go into lots of detail on the region, but I will say that whenever I talk Bordeaux in my classes people seem to think that it's a place that exclusively churns out really expensive wines.

Nope. I've had lots of good Bordeaux for $15. Bordeaux creates a virtual sea of wine. The area is about 290,000 acres. It creates 38% of all still wine (not bubbly or dessert) made. Four out of 10 people who live in the area are employed in wine. Most of that wine is not part of the 1855 classification (see the primer for what the heck this is)...

But then again, some of it is. And I got a chance to pop open a fifth growth the other night and was in heaven. Lest you think all this stuff is ridiculously expensive, the bottle, from one of the best vintages in recent Bordeaux history, was $25. It's from one of the "lesser" Châteaux in the classification, one that people frown on and think shouldn't be in the classification. I'm not going to make a judgment either way, but I will tell you that the 2005 from Château de Camensac was amazing and I'd drink it all day long!

Part of the reason people are jerky about Camensac is that it's not located in the communes where most of the top wines are located: Pauilliac, St-Julien, Margaux, and St-Estephe (on the left side of the map). It's in an area called the Haut-Médoc, specifically in St. Laurent-Médoc. Close to the best areas, but not quite there.

Still, this place is amazing for wine. It's got perfect stony soils with great drainage (a must for grapes) and the Château grows Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot only (most places also grow Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec for the blend too).

The Château has been around since the early 1800s and was outrageously high quality through the 1800s, but it languished for the first part of the 1900s and in 1964 it was taken over by the Forner brothers, who owned Marques de Caceres in Rioja. Despite owners that knew what they were doing, Camensac still didn't really get the love it needed to get acclaim.

But all isn't lost. In 2005 the owners of the very awesome second growth, Gruaud Larose, bought the property and there are high hopes this may mean that things are about to take a turn for the delicious at Camensac. If the 2005 vintage is any indication of where they are going with this new acquisition, we're all in good shape (although I'll say that 2005 is considered one of the top vintages in the last 30 years, and it would be hard to mess up in that year, there's no denying that the Château is in good hands). I'll give a full review, but let me give you a hint: It's definitely a "DRINK"!

The Wine: Château de Camensac
The Grape: 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot
Where it's from: The Left Bank (south side) of Bordeaux
Alcohol: 13%
Vintage: 2005
Price: $25.99

Color: With a majority of the dark Cabernet Sauvignon and a year with good ripeness on the grapes, this was a darker color than most Bordeaux I drink. It was a brownish maroon -- like prune juice. Totally opaque with a watery edge when I tilted the glass. It looked like it was going to pack a punch of flavor.

Smell: Oh, yeah. The Bordeaux stink was kicking. There was a real note of gravel and soil -- this was a deliciously dirty wine, with a real feeling that it was from the land. Under a dark cherry and ripe plum fruit note, there was also a sweet spice flavor like a combo of cinnamon with some cocoa powder. Cabernet can smell like herbs or vegetables, and this had a real pronounced minty smell that was super fresh.

Taste: Reminded me of sipping an espresso or coffee, and since I love both these beverages, this was a great wine for me. There was a distinct bitter note and with the prominent but not overbearing mouth-drying tannins and some refreshing acid, it could have been a Starbucks blend. It had that earthy, gravelly flavor but with red and black cherry, dried plum, vanilla, and cinnamon flavors. This was a rich, flavorful wine with lots going on.

Pairing: I am not a red meat eater, however M.C. Ice has told me that I have an uncanny ability to pair wine with it and this time was par for the course. He had a filet with this wine and was in seventh heaven. The tannins of the wine and the protein in the meat combine to make the meat a velvety, soft, and fruity treat that had M.C. Ice giddy and still talking about the next day. For you non red meat eaters, you can simulate this sensation with a portabella mushroom -- you just need something kind of meaty in texture and you're good to go.

Drink or Down the Sink?: Drink. This is an affordable way to enjoy a quality Bordeaux. 2005 was an exceptional year for Bordeaux, and it was also the year that new ownership took over at Camensac. I think this is a good indication of where this Château is heading and I love what I see. I can't wait to try it again -- an excellent wine.

Wine For Normal People Radio : Episode 022 How To Read A Wine Label

We promised to post some visuals of wine labels to go along with the podcast on "How to Read a Wine Label."

Below are examples of a New World label from California and an Old World label from Italy. You'll find a nearly identical layout on all New World bottles.

The Old World label will vary a little based on country. Some will be more like the New World label. Some will be slightly different from the Italian layout. But most will label the wine not by grape, but by place.

For examples of how to read a French label, please check out my post on Burgundy, complete with label pics. I think this importer does an awesome job explaining how to read a German label, so I'm not going to reinvent the wheel on this one. Here's the link to Rudi West Selections out of California.

Ok: New World Label

Old World Label
And here is a link to the 'cast with show notes:

How To Read A Wine Label

• Shout-Outs -Awesome reviews on iTunes, posts on the Facebook page, comments on the blog, and replies on Twitter
• Main Topic - How to Read a Wine Label
  1. A cameo from Ellie the dog
  2. Information on the Label:
     1. Vintage
     2. Alcohol Content
     3. Warnings
     4. Country of Origin
     5. Producer/Importer
     6. Regions & Appellations
  3. "New World" Wine Labels (U.S., Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, etc.)
  4. European Wine Labels & How to Decipher Them
  5. German Wine Labels (Always a Challenge)
  6. How a Wine Label Reads Like a Beauty Product
  7. Back Labels: Beware of the B.S.
• Coming Soon - The Q&A Show: Ask your questions on Facebook or the blog

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Muscadet: Refreshing, Delicious, But A Tad Weird...

I was with a client last week, doing a "shopping 101" session. After we were done, I asked my friend who works at the store if he had any "must-trys" in the world of very refreshing whites, something I sorely needed since it's been a million degrees here with about 100% humidity every day (ok, so it's hyperbole, but go with me...it feels like that).

He brought me over to the French section and told me they had some great Muscadet. I always forget about this wine (since many are forgettable) and I was excited to revisit it.

The Muscadet (moose-kah-DAY) area is in the far Western Loire Valley -- right on the Atlantic coast surrounding the city of Nantes. The wine is made from the white, fairly neutral tasting Melon de Bourgogne grape (meaning "Melon of Burgundy," indicating where the grape is from).

Originally planted here by the Dutch in the 1700s after a hard frost killed off the existing vineyards which had mostly red grapes, Melon de Bourgogne was harvested with the goal of distilling it and selling the booze all over Europe. The enterprising Dutch gave the grape its start and eventually production moved from spirits to wine.

Today Muscadet is the most produced wine of the Loire, and in recent times, it has been pretty awful. Producers have made terrible bulk wine and the reputation of the area has suffered. It's a real shame, given that this region has a moderate maritime climate and is full of rivers, varied terrain, and diverse soils -- all great for grape growing.

The biggest sub-appellation/area (there are four) and the one you'll usually see in the US is Muscadet Sevre et Maine, named for the two Loire tributaries (the Sevre and the Maine) running through it. Most of the appellation lies on the slopes of the river with lots of ideal well-drained, sandy and gravelly soils. With all this geography going for it, often this wine can be great and is the most consistent of the four Muscadet sub-regions.


Before we get to the wine at hand, I do want to prove that every grape/region has a "behind the music" (even one that's been slammed for making plonk) so I'm going to tell you three really weird things about this wine that make it interesting:

Weird thing 1: The name. Muscadet is not a grape (the grape is Melon de Bougogne) and it's not, as most French wines are, named for a place (which is technically the Pays Nantais). Muscadet is actually a description of the wine -- "musky tasting" and now indicates the area where the wine is made. I guess I could accept this, but the wine is so NOT musky tasting. At it's base, it's just lemony, salty, and acidic...and very simple. Strange that it has this name.

Weird thing 2: Alcohol content. Muscadet is the only wine in France that has a maximum alcohol content (12%). This ensures it will always be on the lighter side, regardless of how great the weather was that year and how ripe the grapes got. The French government regulates this, so there's no wiggle room.

Weird thing 3: Winemaking is described on the label. Muscadet is one of the only wines where the winemaking process, sur lie, is part of the name of the wine and winemakers have to meet certain criteria to add it. We've already said that Melon de Bourgogne is a total yawn on its own, so to give it some umph, winemakers' main tool is sur lie aging. This is a process where the wine sits on dead yeast cells after fermentation, which break up and create a nutty, creamy flavor. To be able to put it on a bottle of Muscadet, the wine has to sit on the lees for a winter and the wines can't be filtered, the juice is just taken directly from the barrel/resting on the lees to the bottle. Pretty oddball that you'd call out how a wine is made right on the label, but that's Muscadet.

For a wine that's made from a very low brow grape, it's pretty high maintenance. But that's ok. Especially when you find one that's more than insipid white.

I'm happy to report that the wine I had was one of the most impressive Muscadets I've had to date. It's from 8th generation winemakers Pierre and Monique Luneau-Papin, who hand harvest the grapes to ensure flavor is preserved. They use traditional techniques, and age the wine sur lie for 6 months to give it rich flavor. Luneau-Papin is considered one of the best producers of this wine and I agree with that assessment ...here goes:

The Wine: Domaine Pierre de la Grange, Muscadet Sevre et Maine Sur Lie
The Grape: 100% Melon de Bourgogne
Where it's from: The Pays Nantais/Muscadet area in the Western Loire Valley of France
Alcohol: 12%
Vintage: 2009
Price: $12.99

Color: A light straw color with just a little yellow tinge, it was pretty non-descript in color. Typical of Muscadet.

Smell: Wow, this thing smelled like sea water (not fishy, just like being on a boat). It was salty but also had a fresh basil smell. Apples, a little bit of honeysuckle and a TON of that mineral/water running over rocks/waterfall smell made my mouth water. The wine also smelled like laundry hanging out to dry. It was super-fresh. Couldn't wait to try it.

Taste: It totally lived up to the smell. It tasted like all the things it smelled like -- laundry, basil, minerals, and sea air. It also tasted like a buttered croissant (from the sur lie aging) but was a little acidic and lemony, which added a great balance to the creaminess. Delicious and refreshing!

Pairing: Seafood: nothing else to say. I don't eat oysters, but if I did this would be the wine for those. Amazing seafood wine. Bet it would be great with pesto because of the basil note -- a great complementary pairing. It's great alone too -- I did that and it was pretty damn good too.

Drink or down the sink?: Drink. If you like a refreshing, light, minerally wine, this is just perfect for you. A simple, but simply delicious wine!

Wine For Normal People Radio : Episode 021 The Grape Mini-Series: Pinot Noir

And the grape mini-series continues! This time, it's the "heartbreak grape." The popular red du jour, Pinot Noir! If you love Pinot, this episode is for you! We talked about the different styles of Pinot Noir from all over the world, and helped point out the differences in Pinot styles.

Show Notes:

• Shout-outs - Fun comments on the Facebook page, Wine for Normal People Blog, and on Twitter
• How to pick the perfect Pinot Noir when shopping for wine
• Different flavor profiles/styles of Pinot Noir
• Popular regions that grow Pinot Noir:
  • Europe: Burgundy, Germany (where it's called Spätburgunder), Champagne (typically blush/rosé sparkling wine from this region)
  • California: Carneros (Napa & Sonoma), Russian River Valley (Sonoma), Central Coast
  • New Zealand
  • Oregon
    
  • Australia

Click here or download the 'cast below...

Wine For Normal People Radio : Episode 021 The Grape Miniseries: Pinot Noir

Send us questions, comments, and some love on Twitter @NormalWine

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Wine Shopping with Wine For Normal People in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution

I posted this on Facebook but forgot to post it here, so here I go!

I was so fortunate to be featured last week in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution Online (and get a blurb in the Food pages of the physical paper too!). Jenny Turknett is a wonderful writer and did a very fun piece that featured tips on my view on how to break down a wine shop to make it all digestible and easy. It goes along with the podcast from a few weeks back, so if you liked that, this is just more of the same, but in writing!

Here's the link:

Wine shopping 101 at ‘Atlanta’s best kept secret’

Jenny Turknett, Southern and Neighborhood Fare

Also, as a shameless plug, if you're in Atlanta or have a budget for travel and are interested in having me at your next event please contact me at elizabeth(at)winefornormalpeople(dot)com!