A Wine Lover's Near Weekly Review Of $15 Wines - A Central Spain White Blend
I usually prefer varietal wines to blends. But it's important to give blends a chance from time to time. Some, for example, Champagnes and fancy Bordeaux can be great. Today's wine comes from a wine producer of organic and kosher wines. The grapes originated in the province of Cuenca (Castile-La Mancha, Spain) of central Spain. As its Ribera del Jucar DO designation indicates, the vineyards are near the Jucar river. This is the most recent DO in Spain. The 9 thousand hectares (about 22 thousand acres) are on a high plateau whose soil is pebbly, a feature said to be positive for producing fine grapes as do the cool nights. The companion wine is an inexpensive blend from Sicily.
OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.
Wine Reviewed Elviwines Ness Blanco Ribera del Jucar DO 2009 13 % alcohol about $13.
Let's start by quoting the marketing materials. "Description: A blend of 50% Suavignon Blanc and 50% Moscatel. Tasting Note: Golden straw in color, medium-bodied, showing aromas and flavors of summer and tropical fruits along with grassy and mineral hints. Lively and refreshing. Drink now. Score - 85 (Daniel Rogov at the wineloverspage website, January 29, 2011)." And now for my review.
At the first sips this wine was long with tropical fruit and feathery. I started with Japanese rice crackers that intensified the wine and rendered it oily. The initial meal centered on a stovetop chicken leg cooked in mushrooms, onions, and spicy salsa. The wine came back with citrus and mouth-filling acidity. It was metallic. When paired with organic whole-wheat pasta this Spaniard answered with refreshing acidity and citrus. Fresh cherries made it long and nicely acidic.
The following meal was homemade chicken fingers dusted in a mixture of garlic powder, basil, and Middle Eastern spices. Now the blend was sweet and oaky, long and metallic. A generous dose of Louisiana hot sauce lengthened the wine, which remained subtle. Buckwheat groats (kasha) in puff pastry (knishes) brought out its tropical fruit. The wine was oily and quite assertive. In the presence of a lightly spicy Moroccan Matbucha salad/salsa containing tomatoes, onions, sweet red and green peppers, and tomato paste the wine was very long and feathery. I tasted honeysuckle.
My final meal was a barbecued veal rib chop marinated in a mixture of ketchup, honey mustard, fresh ginger, fresh garlic, and black pepper. This wine responded with a pleasantly dark taste and had great length. The microwaved redskin potatoes finished on the barbecue rendered this drink multilayered. It was dark for a white wine. Not that there's anything wrong with that. A barbecued Portabello mushroom muted the blend somewhat but it remained forceful.
When paired with Mediterranean Jack cheese this wine was oily and round. It had a pleasant, slightly burnt taste. Brushetta-covered goat's milk cheese muted it somewhat and gave it a tinge of sweetness.
Final verdict. Even though I have to pay a few dollars more than the Internet price I definitely plan to buy this wine again. And I intend to bring it to my wine club tastings as soon as possible.
About the Author
Levi Reiss is the author or co-author of ten computer and Internet books, but really would rather just drink fine German or other wine, accompanied by the right foods. He teaches classes in computers at an Ontario French-language community college. Check out his global wine website is http://www.theworldwidewine.com with a weekly column reviewing $10 wines and new sections writing about (theory) and tasting (practice) organic and kosher wines.
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