Exploring Spanish White Wines
I must have drunk at least a hundred bottles of Spanish red wines before I tasted my first Spanish white.
Now, that sounds like I drink quite a lot but it probably took me something like 7 or 8 years from that I started drinking wine till I encountered my first glass of Spanish white. In 7-8 years you have time to drink a lot of wine, especially if you are in your late teens and early twenties and grow up in Sweden. Back then my perception of white wine was a bottle of overwhelmingly sweet Liebfraumilch or oxidized goat pee (at least that’s what it tasted like) from Cyprus. So I tended to stay away from the white stuff.
But time flies and gradually you develop a more sophisticated taste (and you start to make a bit more money once the great student years are over). Slowly but surely I started to find some good whites. Of course I had to be quick and seize that moment between around 20th of June and 10th of August when we had summer in Sweden. It’s just not the same to sit and sip a cool Chardonnay outside a bar when it’s snowing and the temperature is well below zero. And when I found a good bottle of white it almost never was from Spain. Remember, these were the days before most talented Spanish wine makers had started to pay any attention to the potential for quality white wines.
Still today, I don’t drink that much Spanish white wines. I have lived here in Spain for 4 ½ years and love the Spanish red wine. Of course there will usually be a Rueda or Rias Baixas, or perhaps a Txakoli (I live in the Basque Country after all), on the table when we eat fish or shell fish. But I must confess that I put a lot more energy and time into finding that next exciting red bottle. I have four or five whites that I keep returning to and they seem to do the trick.
But now spring is here and with it the desire to venture deeper into the world of Spanish white wines. This time I will make sure that I really get to the bottom of this fascinating topic. I will boldly search for the best bottle of crisp Verdejo, complex Albariño, bone-dry Txakoli, Godello, full-bodied Viogner or perhaps a Sauvignon Blanc full of tropical fruit. My plan is to try at least a dozen different grape varieties from at least a dozen different D.O’s. Along the quest I might even open a Spanish rosé or two, just for good measures. Keep an eye on this column.
Fredrik
Tags: Godello, Rose wines, Sauvignon Blanc, Spain, White wines
April 18th, 2008 at 8:36 am
Well, if you include Txakoli being spanish white you can´t exclude the entire Freixenet line-up. Fizzy, excellent as well as delicious bubbles.
April 19th, 2008 at 10:23 am
I’m declaring your very late New Year’s resolution, explore Spanish whites and roses. I am floored at how few people know about the diversity and high quality of these wines. Take Tobia’s barrel fermented Rose, an incredibly well balanced, delicate and beautiful wine from La Rioja. Mestres Cavas are equally spectacular, capable of rivaling any Champagne, or even Euldald Massana Noya’s 100% Xarel.lo, an unbelievable wine showing lime, minerals and a rich bouquet of white flowers! Whew..I could go on with wines from Galicia or Navarra, but I think you get my point
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:51 pm
Quick note, your Godello link goes to Verdelho - Turns out Wikipedia was wrong on this one. THey are not the same grape…I’ve edited the entry. Cheers, ryan