(Monday's here... time to vote on the wine. We ended up with the back-up bottle, the 2002 Cune Monopole ($7.99) - also 100% Viura, and loved it. Maxwell says "long live the Spanish!")
Name: 2004 Quinta Hinojal Viura
Grape: Macabeo
Region: Spain
Price: $9.99
This week's pick, the Quinta Hinojal Viura 2004, comes from Astor's delightful "Top Ten under Ten" page. I've chosen what sounds to be a delicious, fun white wine to celebrate the coming spring-like temperatures.
Viura, also know as Macabeo, is a Spanish grape that is generally used to make the delicious sparkling wine, Cava. Macabeo grown in the Castilla y Leon region should produce a dry, crisp, light and refreshing wine that is best consumed young. Astor describes it with "hints of lime" which sounds interesting and very spring-like. I imagine this wine to be the perfect pairing with seafood, especially something light and delicate like steamed mussels and clams.
Stores: Astor Wines (12 Astor Place) and Beacon Wines (2120 Broadway between 74th and 75th Streets)
*UPDATE: we just returned from Astor and they're out of the Hinojal, but suggested as a replacement the 2002 Cune Monopole ($7.99) - also 100% Viura.
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I totally enjoyed our bottle of 2002 Cune Monopole ($7.99) - the replacement bottle - last night. Dry, but with great flavor it got me really going before we sat down to a red wine and a filet mignon at Don and Lynn's house. A great pick at that price point. Long live the Spanish!!
I completely agree with you Max, this was a tasty treat, especially at $7.99. I enjoyed mine with a fish taco salad, it was a great accompaniment.
what a bargain!
I was tooo distracted at that Natural Wine Tasting at Astor . . . came home with a little something from Table 4 . . .
ooh, what was it? What did you like the best?
Did you go? That's why I describe by table...
St Chinian was my favorite guy - that was table 4. Both of his wines were lovely everyday reds, ($13 & $16.) that I look forward to opening outside of the mayhem of the tasting. His table neighbor from the Corbieres was Dom. des Deux Anes.
I came home with her "Fontanilles" ($11.) but I would look for anything from her vineyard.
It was totally fun that the people doing the pouring were the winemakers themselves. Of course Astor is going to be stocking all of this stuff.
For me, the Fitou was the best,
La Grangette, Clos des Camuzeilles (Table 5)
It was a huge relief as the last wine tasted being sooo good. It turned out to be one of the only $30. bottles, and it really showed. The other was "Promise" a 2001 blend from Fontedicto - niiiiice.
Lots of not so fab too - a focus on the budget wines this year that unfortunately tasted that way. It made for a rough start.
I was not so into the Sancerre, which is too bad since that's one of my favorites. The 2003 was a mile better than the 2004 of the same, and it was fun to try them back to back.
There was one funny pour made of grolleau - a giant hit of cracked black pepper. I didn't know what to make of it. That was Dom. Sablonettes "Les Copains d'Abord"
Other than that one grolleau, I discovered I really don't like those Anjou wines.
The Cotes du Rhone were both fine, but that's not my thing.
Can you tell I still have the list in my pocket?
It was a fantastic and fun opportunity to speed date a ridiculous number of wines. We kept stepping out of the fray to reset our overloaded senses.
Thank you for the run down, alas I could not make it, although I tried many of these wines earlier in the week at another biodynamic event. St. Chinian is awesome, so many good wines ~ such a great price!
I am glad you kept your list in your pocket.