ChangeMe
Grape Fermenter
Posts:442
 | | 07/02/2003 6:50 AM |
| Well, there ARE white Priorats, and pretty good ones, though it's a style I've only fallen in love with recently.
Rene Barbier of Clos Mogador has been producing a white for at least three years. It's called Clos Nelín, made with Garnacha Blanca, Viognier and...Pinot Noir...and barrel fermented. Have a bottle but not tried it yet.
Then Gran Clos produces Vinya Llisarda, pretty good too in the Grenache Blanc style of the Southern Rhone as well.
Morlanda has an unoaked Garnacha Blanca too that's really affordable and tasty.
Mas Igneus has a FA106 Garnacha fermented and aged in new oak for 6 months.
There is a really hyped Coma Blanca to match the reds Clos Fontá and Coma Vella (but those are so awfully expensive in the USA that I fear the white will be so too).
And Parker has just rated another white Priorat, Mas d'en Compte, around 91, though that's all I know about it (it was very cheap here last year, though not available in Tenerife, same old story...).
Cost is around $15-25 for the expensive ones, and $8-12 for the cheaper stuff. Not quite the Roussanne bottling by Beaucastel yet...  | | | |
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jaimetown
DC area
Wine Bottler
Posts:3411
| | 07/02/2003 1:56 PM |
| | One of my favorite whites is from the Rueda region called Belondrade y Lurton - made from the verdejo grape. Nice elegant style of wine that reminds of a light version of Puligny-Montrachet. Usually can be had for around $20. Parker called it one of the best whites in Spain. | | | |
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ChangeMe
Grape Fermenter
Posts:442
| | 07/02/2003 3:07 PM |
| Most decidedly, jaime. It's awfully expensive here (that's about 25 euros for a Spanish white) though it can be found for under 20 indeed.
I'll be trying our most expensive white by far on Friday lunch: Gran Veigadares, a barrel-fermented Albariño. I'll throw in some Mosel for contrast. | | | |
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Jeremy Matthew
Barrel Sampler
Posts:2067
| | 07/02/2003 11:12 PM |
| | I enjoy Verdelho's but only those from Aussie, the few (very few) Spanaird examples I have tried have been poor. | | | |
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love_cab_chard
Master of Wine
Posts:12352
| | 07/02/2003 11:14 PM |
| | I see that the pickings are slim when it comes to Whites. I will stick with the Reds. | | |
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ChangeMe
Grape Destemmer
Posts:88
| | 07/03/2003 1:09 AM |
| lcc,
are you looking for whites from only Priorat? There are some really nice whites from Rioja, Rueda and Rias Baixas.
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love_cab_chard
Master of Wine
Posts:12352
| | 07/03/2003 8:48 PM |
| | How much do they usually go for? | | | |
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Winetex
Austin, Texas
Master of Wine
Posts:10573
| | 07/03/2003 8:55 PM |
| LCC - the first three wines in my last Spanish tasting were whites. I like the one that is difficult to pronounce.
Spanish tasting
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ChangeMe
Grape Destemmer
Posts:88
| | 07/03/2003 9:28 PM |
| Three from my wine list:
Bodegas Vidal Soblecher Vina Clavidor(Rueda) - $9 - JB turned me on to this one
Morgadio Albarino (Rias Baixas) - $12
Bodegas Muga Blanco (Rioja) - $10
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ChangeMe
Grape Fermenter
Posts:442
| | 07/03/2003 9:33 PM |
| Winetex, Bernkasteler WHAT???
LCC most of the whites available in the States are around $10-20. Nothing extraordinary except in a literal sense: indigenous varieties do produce original stuff (Albariño from Rías Baixas, Verdejo from Rueda). The whites are improving but they seem to be very vintage-sensitive and therefore there's some lack of regularity. At worst they're inoffensive and hardly expensive except for the top few.
One thing I've noticed about Spanish whites is that except for jaimetown's love affair with Belondrade & Lurton (who have just released a much cheaper second wine, Quinta Apolonia), most Americans don't appreciate the further increase in the next price level as correlating to quality (as often in Cava). | | | |
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Jeremy Matthew
Barrel Sampler
Posts:2067
| | 07/03/2003 10:47 PM |
| | Thanks for the info Gastro. | | | |
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