Over on Tom Wark's blog Fermentation, he's been profiling wine bloggers. These posts give you a better sense of the bloggers behind the blogs that you might read, and the latest "Bloggerview" interview was with Ryan and Gabriella, the folks who bring you Catavino.Regular readers of the blog know that one of my new year's resolutions was to get to know Spanish wine, and I've done a pretty good job fulfilling my resolution so far--thanks to Catavino. My growing knowledge of the wines of the region has been largely the bi-product of their great reviews and writing. Recently, they hosted WBW #38 on Portuguese wines, and now I'm committed to learning more about them, too. Once again, Catavino to the rescue. They put together a 3-pack of recommended Portuguese wines for domaine547 and I popped the cork on my first bottle the other day.
The wine in question was the 2006 Caves da Cerca Vinho Verde Famega (retails in most markets for under $10; included as one of the three wines in domaine547's $50 Catavino pack).This was my first vinho verde and I loved the way it opened up with the gentle fizziness that vinho verde is known for. Sometimes, however, the travel time from Portugal to the US takes some of the fizz out, which is (frankly) not as much fun. Pouring it into the glass, it also had the pale green-gold color that is also associated with this young wine. It had aromas of crisp pears and citrus, and I tasted these in the flavors, as well. They were accompanied by a doughy, yeasty note. Still, the overall taste impression was fresh and clean. At only 9% alc/vol it is a very nice appetizer wine, but it would also go well with peel and eat shrimp or fish and chips. (image from ethmar.com)
Drinking this wine was a great way to toast Catavino, their great taste in wine, and the help that they've given me this year as I learned about Iberian wine. Thanks, Ryan and Gabriella. Cheers to you!
4 comments:
I had this wine at a picnic with a huge variety of foods and I can testify that it matches super-well with almost everything: smoked meats, tomatos, manchego, chevre, rosemary sourdough... the kit as well as that kaboodle, my friends.
And since I drank half the bottle by myself, I was really grateful for the 9% alcohol let me tell you.
So happy you enjoyed the first of the three wines in the blogger-pack! We're lucky we had Ryan and Gabriella to curate a Portuguese selection for us, as it was uncharted territory for us before they piped in!
Thank you. Thank you. And well, thank you some more for your kind and generous words. We try to do the best we can, and hopefully, you will keep us on task continually reminding us that there are people out there as passionate as we are about Iberian wine. Plus, what's fun about drinking fantastic wine if you're not going to share the goods with others ;-)
Wine Scamp, this would be a great picnic wine. And I like the lower alcohol wines--I like them especially when I want to drink wine before dinner and still want to remain coherent enough to serve the meal!
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