Host: Kim
Served: Chilled cucumber soup, fish tacos
Bonus bottles (from the host's personal inventory): Los Dos, New Age Rosé
Juvé y Camps Reserva de la Familia Brut Nature Gran Reserva Cava 2008 (Spain) 12% alcohol, $17 at Waterford
Kim says (12.5): Grin... Christine brought a bubbly! Funny, because Andrea mentioned that she was hoping one of the pairings might be a sparkling wine! The aroma was intoxicating and delicious- peaches and grapes. A bit of a disappointment since it tasted nothing like it smelled... very tart, not smooth, no fruit. I originally penalized it for high acid and low sugar but as Christine said, it's a brut and expected to be dry. Paired with the fish tacos, it seemed to soften a bit.Andrea says (14): A pale champagne color. The smell was delicious! The taste was not. Smelled of pear, honey, white grape and mineral. For the taste, I got a little bit of honey and green apple. I think it was too dry for my taste. But good with the fish tacos.
Christine says (16): Light pale gold. Smelled like lemon, white grape juice, buttery toast and minerals. Great mouthfeel with a nice mousse. Dry and refreshing, with a mineral taste and tart lemon note. It did not cool the hot pepper heat in the soup, but was good with the tacos. Overall, it didn't live up to the hype in my mind. But it was still good.
Condes de Albarei Albariño 2011 (Rias Baixas, Spain) 12% alcohol, $13 at WaterfordKim says (15): Very faint aroma... flower petals and stems, like crushed rose petals. Nice, full body and a tart finish. Well balanced as it seemed to hit every part of the palate but distinctly stronger on tart/bitter. A good match with the food!
Andrea says (15.5): Light, pale, lemon color. I liked the smell. A honey, floral, banana smell. Very sweet smelling. After swirling I even got a vanilla, even a cake smell? Surprising taste. Tart! More acidic than I expected. Lime and green apple flavors. Unfortunately it did not TASTE like cake....
Christine says (18): Light lemony yellow. Oooh! Did it smell good. Sweet and floral, perfumey, peaches and white cake. It also smelled like beer as it opened up more. Nice medium body, soft and round, with tartness and a short finish. I tasted some oak or brown stems, too. It was kind of lacking mid-palate. Overall, I thought it was complex and good! Great with the soup; awesome with the tacos. I'd definitely buy it again.
On a side note... one of the bonus bottles (Los Dos) was very good. We did not score it but I think it was so good, it is a definite "buy again" and will likely be written up in one of our future posts!
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