The clocks go ahead one hour tonight, and some of you might lament about losing an hour sleep, however, there are those of us that lament about losing an hour of enjoying wine. Speaking of switching to white wine, here’s one to try. It could be my new favourite white wine.
Cune Rioja Blanco Semidulce is new to our NSLC in Nova Scotia, hailing from Spain. The wine is 85% Viura with the remaining 15% Malvasia and White Grenache. Viura is also known as Macabeo, commonly used in making Spanish Cava, a traditional-made Sparkling. Spanish cava is made the exact same way as Champagne is, at about 1/3 the price. This is a dry wine, however, not a Sparkling. There is a tinge of sweetness on the tip of the tongue because the grapes were left on the vine for so long. There used to be a saying “the longer on the vine, the sweeter than wine”. A fantastic value at $18 a bottle. It’s new, try it.
I have a surprise for you…
I heard my friend Brenda from the NSLC on my street recommend this wine to a customer. I heard her say Merlot, which immediately got my attention, and I said hmmmm? I will be honest, I probably would never have picked up a bottle of French Merlot that cost me $11.99, if it wasn’t for Brenda’s recommendation. That’s not a typo, this bottle of wine cost $11.99. And this wine comes from the Languedoc-Roussillion region of France which has been making quality Merlot for decades. Here’s the area and here are the grapes.
Full-bodied and aromatic, I would recommend opening it and letting it breathe. I tried it immediately after opening it and it was a little boozy on the back of the throat to start, but once it sat for 30 minutes, that went away because the air helps evaporate the alcohol taste. You gotta try this wine.
And now for my wine of the week, it’s a white and red sister combo….
Hailing from Portugal the red Murta is a beautiful Syrah with Portugal’s most famous red grape, Touriga Nacional. The grapes are hand harvested and hand sorted, with any green grapes and rotten grapes thrown away. What that means for wine, is that you don’t tend to find any bitterness. Very food friendly wine.
I got to try the white Murta this week as well, which is also a great value because they are both priced less than $18 a bottle.
With the clocks going ahead this evening, and many people thinking Spring and Summer, this is a perfect one for Summer. Made 100% with a grape I don’t remember ever having, the Arinto grape. It’s a very refreshing grape, the wine is acidic so it’s a great wine for an appetizer or an oily fish. It has delicious notes of lemon and lime which will have you thinking of summer even if it’s snowing outside.
I have a wine tasting tonight, and I’m very excited about the wines. I will tell you all about them next week.
Till next week, Cheers
Darlene
Wine-It’s Just My Opinion 