Spanish Albarino - Try it, You'll Like It!

I've been pretty serious about my red wine drinking for a good 5-6 years now. I've not been a big white wine fan. Beyond the occasional Sauvignon Blanc, nah not my thing.

But I think my seriousness about wine, the column and this blog, has gotten my interest piqued into white wine lately.

I've tried some new things and tasted a few surprising white wines that I really enjoyed. And I'm happy not to be the stereotypical red wine drinker if that is where this is headed.

First tonight, I opened a bottle of Salneval Albarino, a 2007 that is widely distributed and found in lots of places for $9-$11. I picked up this bottle, on Ashley's recommendation, at Cork & Cracker in Indianapolis.

Now to the wine. This was my first albarino and I really liked it. This is the widest grown white wine grape in Spain and it is a great alternative to some of the old standby wines.

I've had several "ok" Sangiovese wines with pasta lately. I made some simple pasta tonight using ground turkey and canned seasoned tomatoes (Red Gold and Del Monte work great!). This was far superior than of those recent reds.

It is a yellow-ish wine with a beautiful and very seductive nose. You could never just sniff this wine and set it down. There is a little hint of fruit, mineral, and perhaps even floral but not the acidity of many white wines .. and it has a very smooth finish.

This wine would work with seafood, perhaps Asian food, and even mild Italian. I'm anxious to try it with my spicier pasta combinations.

I did my usual research to find that amateur and blogging wine writers, like me, generally rated it in the very high 80s - 87-88 - on the 100 point scale. I don't do that, but it seems about right.

Pick up a Spanish Albarino and give it a try for something different. I found it very enjoyable. I'd definitely buy more of the Salneval, but I'm anxious to try others as well!

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