Today's wine comes from Carinena in the Aragon region of northeastern Spain. This wine carries the DO appellation; it is the first wine to be so honored in Aragon. The region itself has a long wine history dating back some 2300 years. In those days people often mixed their wine with honey. Unlike most of our reviewed wines, this one comes from a wine cooperative. The coop, Bodegas San Valero, was founded in 1945 uniting 60 growers. They are now up to about 700. The Viura grape, called Macabeo in France, is the most popular grape in northern Spain. It is found in Cava, a popular Spanish sparking wine. Traditionally this is not a prestigious grape but I just came across a review entitled Macabeo/Viura - the Cinderella Grape? from Jancis Robinson, one of the world's leading wine reviewers. Exceptionally there will be no $10 review next week. It's not a question of taking time off, I'll be doing an upscale wine review and the companion wine came in at about $12. On the subject of upscale wines, I found an 1989 Viura/Malvasia (also not a prestigious grape) marked down to about $55. I won't be tasting that wine unless the markdown process goes viral. Today's companion wine is a moderately priced white from Apulia in southern Italy. OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price. Wine Reviewed Castillo de Monseran Viura 2008 12.5% alcohol about $9 Let's start by quoting the marketing materials. Tasting Note: Pale straw color, aromas of white peaches and flowers, dry, light bodied, delicate floral flavors and a crisp lemony finish. Serving Suggestion: Serve with seafood pasta dish. And now for my review. At the first sips this wine had astringent acidity. It was lemony and long. The first meal centered on a dry barbecued chicken breast. The wine's acidity was under better control. I tasted peaches that weren't quite ripe. The meat was accompanied by green beans in tomato sauce and rice. The Viura's acidity nicely met the acidity in the tomato sauce. The word delicate came to mind. With fresh pineapple the wine was fairly long but didn't have much to say. My next meal was a boxed vegetarian lasagna made with ricotta and mozzarella cheese that I doused with grated parmesan cheese. The Viura displayed moderate acidity. It had good length and tasted of white grapefruit. It was refreshing. Dessert was fresh strawberries from the local market. The wine's acidity and almost everything else was gone. So I drowned my sorrows in another dessert, a high-quality ice cream bar coated in chocolate. The wine was discrete. My final meal was a broiled Atlantic salmon filet marinated and basted in an agave nectar sauce. The wine had a light taste of apples but did not mesh with the salmon. Slices of fresh red pepper stepped up the wine's acidity but nothing else. With fresh tomato the Viura's fruit came back and the wine was round. The first cheese was a rather tasteless brick. The wine had good lemony acidity; this was quite an acceptable combination. With a slightly tastier provolone the wine was virtually the same. Final verdict. I don't plan to buy this wine again. It was definitely hit and miss. But if you want to do an inexpensive wine and cheese tasting with pedestrian cheeses it may be a good option.
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