Nisia Old Vines Verdejo 2011

Nisia-bajaEver needed to bring a white wine to a steakhouse?

I was heading to a BYOB dinner at an Argentinean steakhouse with a couple non-red wine drinking friends and was in a predicament: what white wine should I bring? I had never had this $18.99 ($13.99 @ Binny’s) Verdejo before but am glad the store clerk recommended it.

So, I’m sure you’re asking, what is Verdejo? Verdejo is a lesser known grape variety grown in Spain also known as Godello. It generally has great fruit notes balanced with good acidity. (Fun fact: despite sounding alike, Verdejo and Verdelho are completely different grapes.) This wine by Nisia – one of Jorge Ordonez’ selections – exemplifies that. Jorge Ordonez imports a lot of great Spanish wines such as La Cana, Volver, and Tres Picos. Their mission is to bring the absolute best examples of Spanish wine to the American consumer, and they rarely disappoint.

This particular vineyard hails from Spain’s Rueda DO, utilizes organic agricultural practices on their 50+ year old vines, and harvests their grapes by hand. The wine is then bottled using, I suspect, minimal filtration and processing, as the wine was just a touch cloudy. The result of this care and effort is a medium bodied, crisp, and delightful white wine. You can smell this inviting wine the moment you put it in your glass. Floral and fruit aromas combine evoking pineapple, honey suckle, mango, coconut, and ripe pear. It follows through on the palate providing great fruit notes such as white peaches, pineapple, and lemon, with surprisingly high acidity and a lingering finish.

See also  Modern House Wines Red Blend

It went pretty well with my steak despite the fruit notes and clocking in at 14.5% ABV. The Nisia Old Vines Verdejo 2011 would also go well with chicken, duck, or pork dishes. Definitely a wine to share with friends!

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midwestern girl who just really really really likes wine.

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