In my tasting class at the university we tested 12 bottles of wine from Spain and Portugal. In addition, I have put in a few more bottles from the Iberian Peninsula that have caught my attention. To keep this blog from running too long I have divided it in three. First off white wines, green wines and sparkling wines, followed by red wines and then lastly, sherries and ports.
12 (empty) bottles of wine from Spain and Portugal
- we started with Cava, a sparkling wine, and fabulous value, especially when compared to French champagnes. In our class we tasted Segura Viudas, Brut Reserva. My tasting sheet describes it as acid, dry, with green apple and ‘toast’ notes.
Cava is the Spanish answer champagne, and very inexpensive compared to the French champagnes
From a different selection of Cavas at the ‘Signature’ Liquor Store, my favourite was Codorníu – Clásico Brut. It is light and crisp, and the cheapest of the Sparkling wines at $13.99! It was paired with Manchego cheese, a hard sheep cheese from Spain, and the combination was magic.
Cava Codorníu – Clásico Brut, light and crisp!
- the second wine we tasted in our class was Gatao, Vinho Verde (green wine), a slightly effervescent and refreshing wine from Portugal, with the flavours of ‘citrus and green apple’.
Gatao Vihno Verde from Portugal
- we also tried Burgans Albariño, the Spanish version of vino verde, with fresh citrus notes that would go well with creamy seafood dishes or raw oysters.
(If you fancy testing your Spanish, this is from my Soleado course: No hay muchos vinos blancos en España, pero la región de Galicia produce un tipo de vino ‘verde’ llamado ‘albariño’. Este vino tiene una acidez alta y es un buen complemento para los mariscos crudos como las ostras. Nota: La mayoría de las uvas verdes se usan para el jerez. Más en los vinos de España)
Albariño Vino Verde from Spain
- We didn’t taste any whites (vinos blancos) in our class but I found this wonderful white (another Liquor Store find), Viña Esmeralda (emerald vines), a Spanish blend of whites with a lot of Gewurztraminer in it. It is a perfect summer sipping wine, and pairs nicely with almonds. It comes from from Catalonia in the northeast of Spain.
Viña Esmeralda (emerald vines), a Spanish white wine blend
Next blog I will go through the red wines (vinos tintos) of these two countries, as most of the grapes grown in Spain and Portugal are made into red wines…
