White Rioja: yes or no

[Wilfrid]

I ordered a white Rioja at lunch today, with some trepidation as far as my companions were concerned. I am fond of white Rioja, and I had sampled the Vina Tondonia Reserva before. But to some tastes, it is very over-oaked - in fact, I am unsure whether it ages in oak barrels or actually in sherry barrels. Certainly, it has an air of sherry about it, and - especially if not chilled - can almost be mistaken for retsina. Not necessarily a good thing.

Well, I like it. Anyone else?

[tommy]

I ordered a white Rioja at lunch today, with some trepidation as far as my companions were concerned.  I am fond of white Rioja, and I had sampled the Vina Tondonia Reserva before.  But to some tastes, it is very over-oaked - in fact, I am unsure whether it ages in oak barrels or actually in sherry barrels.  Certainly, it has an air of sherry about it, and - especially if not chilled - can almost be mistaken for retsina.  Not necessarily a good thing.

Well, I like it.  Anyone else?

note to self: never let wilfrid order the wine.

[cabrales]

I enjoyed the white Rioja; it was the first time I had sampled one.

[Wilfrid]

note to self:  never let wilfrid order the wine.

Why dontcha get back to the Noo Jersey board and talk about huevos rancheros with your pals?

[eatingmike]

I love White Rioja because it carries wonderful memories of my trip to Spain, eating tapas, and enjoying this really refreshing, lemony, chilled wine... But as far as being a good "food" wine, I don't care for this one too much because it is so very soft, and is easily clobbered by most flavors... Now don't get me wrong, for a refreshing glass of wine after work or on the patio on a warm summer evening this is a great choice...

[Winot]

Always been underwhelmed but this one is a revelation:

Marques de Murrieta Capellania

I've tried the '95 and the '96 and they have an incredibly intense sherry-like taste was rounded honey overtones. A big wine.

Available from Oddbins (UK) for about GBP 9 a bottle.

W.

[Ron Johnson]

Wilfrid,

It is difficult for me to get too excited about any wine, the flavor of which has been compared to retsina. I hope that this was an off bottle of white rioja. It should never taste of kerosene and pine needles.

[rich]

My grandfather was right when he told me - "All wine would be red if it could."

[StephenT]

The only white Rioja I remember drinking I ordered a few years ago at a somewhat trendy restaurant/bar/club called AKA in London. I drank it on a company-sponsored night out following a few cocktails and some sherry, so my recollection of it might be somewhat skewed. I recall it being full flavoured, probably well oaked, and it went particularly well with the buttered green beans we'd ordered with our meal.

The most interesting thing about it to me before ordering it was that it was the oldest wine on the menu (6 or 7 years old), despite being white. That was the main reason I ordered it and I was glad I did. Have no recollection whatsoever who the producer was.

[Wilfrid]

Retsina? Perhaps I exaggerate - I was just trying to get across the extreme oakiness of some white riojas. Maybe I should've stuck with the sherry comparison.

Stephen: I have certainly drunk white riojas of that kind of age. I don't know how old they can get.

[Vivian Mallinson]

I like white Rioja quite a bit.

The Marques de Murrieta is a good one. Recently I greatly enjoyed a bottle of the '93, which had a marvellously limpid quality and went very well with a plate of brandade. Perhaps it is a shade more expensive than I would like when compared with, say, a bottle of manzanilla.

[Tonyfinch]

It is difficult for me to get too excited about any wine, the flavor of which has been compared to retsina. I hope that this was an off bottle of white rioja.  It should never taste of kerosene and pine needles.

If fine wine can taste of sweaty saddle and farmyard why not kerosene and pine needles? Retsina has its place. That is in a Greek fishing village with the sun bouncing off the blue sea drunk ice cold in a tumbler accompanied by deep fried calamari and other assorted fish and seafood and a large bowl of Greek salad. Admittedly you might not want it anywhere else but in those cicumstances you wouldn't want anything else.

[Steve Plotnicki]

The better white wine to drink from the Basque region is Txakoli which is the tapas wine of choice (acid bath), but by far the best white wine in Spain is Alberinho from the Northwest Atlantic coast. Fruity and it sort of reminds me of Condrieu.

[Bux]

I'm pretty sure it's Albariño in Spanish. Your spelling looks more like what it might be in Portugese or perhaps Gallego. Galicia is a semi autonomous region as are Catalunya and the Basque are and each has it's own official language. We're very fond of these wines. I'm also fond of the fact that they are rarely expensive. I've found the Burgans is about the least expensive one around and it can often be found for as little as ten bucks a bottle, by the case. I usually grab a case when ever I run across it on a special like that. I've never had a bad one. Some are more complex than the Burgans. I've had a few that were aged in oak casks and they were interesting, but had less appeal as well as a higher price. Galicia is a very interesting place. The inhabitants share a Celtic cultural heritage with Ireland and Brittany although there seems to be no trace of the Celtic language. The bagpipe is a traditional instrument.

[Steve Plotnicki]

Bux - The best Albarino I've had is Martin Codax. About $12 and terrific. And speaking of roots, do you know they can not figure out where the Basque language derives from? They have no clue where the people who settled in the Basque region might have come from before they made their way there. Not unlike there not being a trace of Celtic in Gallicia.

[Bux]

There are apparently lots of traces of the Celtic culture, it's just that there's no Celtic language spoken there as opposed to Brittany where there is a local Celtic language. Nevertheless, there are many pan-Celtic music and dance festivals in which Galicia is well represented. I have some very small curiosity about all this as my wife traces part of her roots to Galicia and my daughter is married to a Breton.

I've not found too much difference between the Martin Codax and the Burgans in terms of quality. It's possible that the Burgans has a little less character, but I think that's varied from vintage to vintage. Both are now made by the same company--Martin Codax owns the Burgans winery. I'd agree that it's hard to find better value although I've been seeing those wines going for prices in the upper middle teens in some shops. Spanish wines seem to suffer tremendous inflation as they are imported and sold in the US. I'm not sure the Albarinos are the best Spanish whites if only because I don't know much about Spanish wines yet, but we found that about half the white wines we ordered in Catalunya were Albarinos and that they tended to be the least expensive and most enjoyable with seafood.

[Vivian Mallinson]

I agree that albarino is one of the better Spanish whites - not unlike a good viognier. Interestingly it - the albarino grape - seems to ripen quite readily in southern England: I have a few vines in my garden. You'd have to go quite a few hundred miles further south to have any chance with viognier.

[Bux]

A google search quickly verified what my wife had told me she read about what's known about it's history. The albarino grape may well be an offshoot of riesling. Some accounts say it's a clone of an Alsatian riesling, while others say it came from Germany. Interestingly enough, there's now a California Albarino.

"If red wine is the soul of Spain, Albarino is its heart," according to winemaker Michael Havens, who likens the 2001 release to the haunting floral aromatics of Riesling, the bright acid "nerve" of Sauvignon Blanc, but a subtle mid-palate exotic fruit recalling Viogner. With a tinge of sweet effervescent qualities, Albarino celebrates the fruit not masked by wood or other non-fruit elements.

At a suggested retail price of $24, it's going to be hard to compete with the albarinos from Spain at half that price, but I admire the attempt.