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verdejo
Old vine white wine? Shaya Verdelho delivers
2009 Bodegas Shaya Verdejo Old Vines
In my search for white wines with new charms and extra character, I often return to Planet V, a peachy place full of verdejo, viura, viognier and vermentino.
In Rueda a Spanish corner of V, “verdejo” has been in the vineyards a long time, at least 75 years for these grapes (and more than 100 for some of them). Bodegas Shaya Verdejo Old Vines (91 pts WA, $13.99) treats them the old-fashioned way too, leaving them on the lees and barrel fermenting them.
The wine that emerges is packed with aroma and lusciously full and creamy in the mouth, peach and mango with hints of vanilla and nutmeg from the oak, yet it’s still crisp and refreshing .
Summer Martin, our Spanish diva, says it demands ceviche. Agreed.
I wouldn’t turn down fried chicken or pad Thai either.
2009 Shaya (Rueda, Spain)
2009 Bodegas Shaya Shaya (Rueda) $13.99
“My favorite month is here (my name was no coincidence), and to celebrate I plan on eating lots of fresh seafood. After all I live in Florida right? Its time for a white wine and Verdejo has been calling my name. Shaya is a new project from the dynamic duo of Juan Gil and Jorge Ordonez. It is absolutely delicious. Besides the obvious hints of melon and apple, it reminded me of the Jamaican Grapefruit that I ate on vacation this May. If you’ve never tried one, it tastes like a heavenly mix of a orange, kiwi and grapefruit, similar to the flavors I picked up in the Shaya Verdejo. Shaya is refreshing, crisp and dry and a perfect match to ceviche!”
90 Points, Summer Martin
Staff Selection, June 2010
Also: 91 Points, Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate
2007 Ossian (Rueda, Spain)
2008 Ossian (Rueda, Spain) $29.99
“Verdejo vineyards planted in the late 1800’s are the source of one of the great white wines of Spain. I tasted the 2008 Ossian last month and it remarkably resembled a Chassagne-Montrachet. The 2007 Ossian gets the nod, this stuff is Grand Cru.
There is a point in the old vine white wine kingdom where limestone subsoils dominate varietal expression. For example, old vine Godello or Verdejo from Spain share a provenance with chardonnay from Chablis or Cote d’Or. This phenomenon also occurs with old vine Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire Valley.
Cambrian limestone confuses the senses, scrambles wine GPS, demanding you stay put and experience this wine for all it is and what it is expressing.”
94 Points, Bob Sprentall
Staff Selection, April 2010
From rocky Madeira to Australia, verdelho makes a comeback
2009 Woop Woop Verdelho - $9.99
Pinot Grigio, watch out. Sauv Blanc and Riesling too. The Australians have found another white wine in the cellar, Portuguese verdelho, and it just might be the next great quaffer. Of course the Aussies first played with it in their ports, sherries and other stickies. Now they vinify it dry and it’s a delicious bite of white fruits. Put it in that growing basket of of viognier, roussanne, albariño and wines full of peaches, apricots and flowers. Lots of Oz wineries are playing with it, including the Mollydooker gang, but my favorite is from the Woop Woop gang down in South Australia along Langhorne Creek and the Limestone Coast.
This is a tropical breeze, with fresh pineapple, mango and ripe sweetness refreshed with clean crisp acidity, like a waterfall on a Pacific island. Makes you want to start a luau. At $9.99, you can invite a crowd.
- Chris Sherman, The Blogging Nibbler