From South to North

Our friends, the Argent Couple are all things South American.  Wine and food is a major item for them to consider daily, and there’s a barbecued beast and slabs of red meat being cooked and served regularly, all accompanied by a few glasses of hearty red.  So it was a lot of fun and something different to serve them a couple of whites from places almost on the opposite side of the planet from where they see home.  We followed these with a couple of heftier reds, just in case they might have a grumble!

Leading the way was a 2009 Mathis Bastian Remich Primerberg Riesling Grand 1er Cru.  Big name for a nice but gentle white from Luxembourg.  For a tiny state that’s heavy into civil and grey with a cost to it all, this was a delight.  Maybe it’s that extra sprkle ofmaking good wine hat is the lift?  Soft and sherbet-like with its matty, lime and citrus, honey infused flavours, not quite the clarity of the Mosel cousins in Germany over the border.  But nevertheless an attractive and delicious introduction.  No shortage of presence with 12.5% alc. but not in any way overbearing.  It’s a little incentive to change my views of the country.

Then a 2010 Bodegas Terras Gauda ‘La Mar’ Rias Baixas.  Not an Albarino as one might expect from this north-western corner of Spain, but 85% Caino Branco with Albarino and Loureiro, grown in the O Rosal sub-zone.  Surprisingly yellow in colour, this combined the oily lanolin of Semillon with the exotics of Viognier and the acidity of Chenin Blanc.  Intriguing in aroma and flavour and with excellent depth, at 12.5% alc., that just kept on revealing more interest.  I could look at this for ages, and I did, until the bottle was empty.  I don’t know if the Argent Couple or SWMBO were quite into it as I was, but no matter. 

On going from the South to the North, one can experience a whole world of tastes.