On May 20, 9:48*pm, Mark Lipton > wrote:
> Last night, Jean and I set out to investigate a recently opened wine bar
> in our little town. *Since the demise of the late, lamented Windows on
> the Wabash [sic] we haven't really had anything like a wine/tapas bar in
> this area. *This new place is an outgrowth of a wine/cheese shop
> downtown that featured very pedestrian offerings, so I went with no
> great sense of anticipation. *Fortunately, the new venture has hired a
> very talented cook to make their various small plate offerings. *This
> month they offer a series of specials from Mexico and South America, so
> we got a very tasty ceviche, smoked duck tamales, and a fantastic
> stuffed poblano pepper, all of which were very well conceived and
> prepared. *After ordering our food, we were told to go to the bar, where
> * we were offered our choice of 3 different wines to taste. *In keeping
> with the theme of the month, the wines were mostly from S. America (not
> my favorite region) but they had a few off-theme wines. *I chose for my
> 3 tastes a 2007 Kunde Sauvignon Blanc (boring) and a Malbec/Syrah blend
> from Argentina that was utterly international and bland. *The third wine
> was the winner of the lot:
>
> 2010 White Spanish Guerrilla Albariño (Castillo de Maetierra)
> nose: ripe melon, minerals
> palate: firm acidity, medium body, dry
>
> Despite my aversion to cutesy names, especially when they are export
> labels, this was the most appealing wine I tried and the wine that both
> Jean and I got by the glass to go with our food. *It was certainly a
> riper rendition of Albariño than most other examples I've had, but by
> the same token it had plenty of character and didn't seem hot or
> overextracted. *I suspect that this wine would not pass muster as a
> "natural" wine or anything close to it. *It was probably manufactured
> somewehere, but still had enough character for me to like it.
>
> For my bully pulpit, I'll note that this operation had better get a clue
> about wine if they hope to match the excellence of the food they're
> offering. *Their selection of wines is small and focused on low price
> point wines from obscure producers. *With time, perhaps, I'll be able to
> talk to them about upgrading their wine selections, but they may not
> have the cash to invest in more ambitious wine offerings. *We'll see...
>
> Mark Lipton

I'm with you here Mark. I keep trying to like South American wines but
other than a few odd lots from Mendoza have found them lacking.