The seasons are changing and so are many peoples wine choices. What do you notice you switch too as the temperature lowers, and the dinners become more robust? For many, sadly white wine gets sidelined due to the temperature, preferring to save those crisp whites for warm summer picnics.

About a month ago, we received three bottles of Ribeiro wines, all of which seemed very intriguing. Sadly cold weather, lots of work, and a killer sore throat pushed off our tasting. But last night, with our trip to India approaching in a few day’s time, we took the plunge and decided that in light of a week long adventure in spicy food, we should at least pop open some bottles that should potentially go incredibly well with this type of fair. Enter 3 wines from the producer: Coto de Gomariz

Taken from the P.R. Grisley site:

Located in the Ribeiro region in Galicia, Coto de Gomariz is made up of several vineyards covering a total of about fifty acres in the districts of Gomariz, Vieite, Esposende and Beade.

In 1979 the Figueiral estate was recovered and became the first of the properties to be included in the Coto de Gomariz vineyard terrain. This marked the first step towards restoration of the native Ribeiro varieties, including Albarino, Treixadura, Loureira and Godello varieties.

Coto de Gomariz wines are the result of a unique combination of an Atlantic climate, low levels of rainfall, long hours of sunshine and sharp contrasts between daytime and nighttime temperatures, as well as an unusual granitic soil.

While all three wines stood out as great examples of their style, Ryan prefered the Coto de Gomariz Colleita Seleccionada 2006 to the other two. It had a much more complex and “adult” appearance that probably would be rewarded by a few years of cellaring. Contrary to many people’s belief Albarino is a wine that ages quite well when made in a fuller style and we think this, though a blend, would be great in 2 years time. The Coto de Gomariz Colleita 2007 and the Gomariz Vino de Encostas de Xistos 2007 on the other hand, were similar wines though both quite stunning nonetheless. Rich and full of great minerals, fruit and floral notes all three are worth looking for. As for food, shellfish! Maybe spicy Thai, and definitely, any grilled fish!

Saludos,

Ryan and Gabriella Opaz

P.S. you should all check out this great write up about Albariño over at Enobytes: Albariño, The Other White Grape

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