[wine] Rias Baixas

DIY Annette Peters impressions as you pronounce these wine names. August 13, 2008 WINES OF THE TIMES Living and Drinking in the Moment By ERIC ASIMOV THE middle of August has arrived, and you know what that means. The stores are decked out with sweaters and woolens, food magazines are beginning to offer recipes for hearty stews and, by the way, if you have Christmas travel plans, you had better book now. Has anybody looked out the window or checked the temperature? Here at Wines of The Times, that sort of desperate forward thinking stops right here and right now. Let the ants fuss with their preparations for storm windows and winter insulation; we grasshoppers are still in a relaxed summer mood. We continue to thirst for crisp, refreshing white wines like albariñone of Spain.s finer contributions to warm-weather drinking. The rocket trajectory of Spain.s transition into a modern wine-producing powerhouse makes it highly susceptible to a focus on the next new thing, in which each pleasant discovery quickly overtakes the last. In the 1980s, albariñas one of the first wines to emerge from modern Spain, which in the current scheme of things makes it positively ancient. By all rights, more recent moments in the spotlight for txakolífrom the Basque country and verdejos from Rueda should have hastened albariñoward a rendezvous with the scrapheap of has-been wine fads. Yet albariñremain highly popular, especially in the United States, which continues to be the top export market for these wines. The consistent popularity of albariñs a tribute both to the fundamental appeal of these bright, thirst-quenching wines and to the canny marketing efforts of Spanish winemakers, who made it the signature white wine of the Rí Baixas region of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. To take the temperature of the current crop of albariñin the marketplace, the wine panel recently sampled 25 bottles, 17 from the 2006 vintage and 8 from the 2007. For the tasting, Florence Fabricant and I were joined by Stephen Paul Mancini, the wine and spirits director at Union Square Cafe, and my friend Rafael Mateo, the proprietor of Pata Negra, a ham and tapas bar in the East Village. Most of the albariñ at least the ones that we liked, fit into two main categories. Some were lean and crisp, with pronounced mineral and citrus flavors. Others were round and plump, retaining the citrus and mineral qualities, but emphasizing peach, cantaloupe and tropical fruit flavors. Either way, the good ones were consummate summer wines, a paradox, as Florence pointed out, because they come from the Atlantic coast of Spain, where persistent rainfall and mist can make summer fleeting at best. As enjoyable as albariñcan be, they are modest wines, easy to enjoy without prolonged analysis. While the wines were fairly consistent, we did have to navigate through some dull, insipid examples. That.s not a surprise, given its success. When a wine like an albariñchieves something approaching brand status, some producers may try to capitalize by emphasizing quantity over quality. Nonetheless, many of these wines remain good values despite the exchange rate. In fact, our No. 1 wine, the 2006 Orballo, was also our best value at $13. It epitomized what we liked best in these wines by combining crisp floral, citrus and mineral flavors with a snappy, tangy liveliness that sort of lifts one up with each sip. To me, this energy is an essential component not only for a summer wine, but for great wines of any kind. Of the 25 bottles, 18 were $20 and under. The most expensive bottle, at $31, was the 2006 Torroxal, made in the O Rosal area in the southern end of Rí Baixas, near the Portuguese border. The Torroxal was altogether fresh and enjoyable with mineral, peach and lime flavors, but it clearly was not the best value in the tasting. By contrast, our No. 2 and No. 3 wines were less expensive. I especially liked the 2006 Terramaior at $22, both for its depth of flavor and for its persistent minerality, a quality I love. The 2006 Licia, at $17, was more on the plump side with ripe flavors of peach and litchi. Others in our top 10 that seemed to fit this profile were the 2007 Burgans, the 2007 Viñora and the 2007 Condes de Albarei Salneval. The 2006 GranbazáAmbar stood out among these wines both for its golden color and for a kind of honeysuckle quality, which suggested sweetness without ever straying over the line. Instead, the wine seemed well balanced with persistent mineral flavors. As occasionally happens in a blind tasting, some favorite producers did not make the cut. The 2006 Do Ferreiro seemed a little sweet and fatiguing, not at all like the dry, juicy Do Ferreiros to which I.ve been accustomed. We found nothing wrong with the 2006 Martin Codax or the 2006 Pazo Señns, but they could not edge their way into the top 10. Unlike many other emerging white wine regions, few producers in Rí Baixas seem to be playing around with barrel fermentation or other techniques often associated with chardonnay. As a result few of these wines are overtly oaky or laden with flavors of butter or vanilla. These wines naturally scream out for seafood. In fact, for grilled octopus, you could not select a better wine. For those of you already planning your winter stews, see me later for some remedial training in enjoying the moment. Tasting Report: AlbariñThrough Labor Day BEST VALUE Orballo Rí Baixas 2006 $13 *** Lively, refreshing and energetic with crisp citrus, floral and mineral flavors. (Importer: Quality Wines of Spain, New York) Terramaior Rí Baixas 2006 $22 *** Floral, lime and mint flavors with persistent minerality. (Vinamericas Selections, Miami) Licia Rí Baixas 2006 $17 ** 1/2 Bright and aromatic with sumptuous flavors of peach, litchi and minerals. (Winebow, New York) Torroxal Rí Baixas 2006 $31 ** 1/2 Lively and refreshing with flavors of peach, lime and minerals. (Marble Hill Cellars, Brooklyn) Burgans Rí Baixas 2007 $12 ** 1/2 Ripe and full with aromas of ginger, cantaloupe and tropical fruit. (European Cellars/Eric Solomon Selections, Charlotte, N.C.) Vina Nora Rí Baixas 2007 $16 ** 1/2 Ripe and round with peach flavors. (Tempranillo, New Rochelle, N.Y.) Condes de Albarei Rí Baixas 2007 $18 ** 1/2 Balanced and lively with peach, mineral and floral components. (C.I.V. U.S.A., Sacramento) Lagar de Cervera Rí Baixas 2006 $16 ** Crisp and refreshing with aromas of peaches and citrus, and plenty of minerality. (Europvin U.S.A., Los Angeles) Granbazan Rí Baixas Ambar 2006 $22 ** Ripe yet balanced with aromas of honeysuckle and minerals. (Agrodebazan U.S.A., Newark) Condes de Albarei Rí Baixas Salneval 2007 $8 ** Pleasing, with flavors of white peaches, cantaloupe and lemon. (C.I.V. U.S.A.) WHAT THE STARS MEAN: Ratings, from zero to four stars, reflect the panel.s reaction to the wines, which were tasted with names and vintages concealed. The wines represent a selection generally available in good retail shops and restaurants and on the Internet. Prices are those paid in shops in the New York region. Tasting Coordinator: Bernard Kirsch -- ------------------------------ * Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, mobile : 651/645-0753 * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *