My New Favorite Aussie
My new favorite Aussie grape isn't what you might expect. It's not even the color you might expect. It's the white grape of Portuguese origins, Verdelho.
Why do I like it?
Two reasons: 1) It makes a nice zesty little white wine that is very food-friendly & food-flexible. 2) The Aussies are selling this wine at dirt-cheap prices.
My most recent sampling of Aussie Verdelho is simply labeled, "Hope Verdelho." This wine is made by Hope Estate Family Vineyards in the Hunter Valley, North of Sydney in New South Wales.
The Skinny
Hope Verdelho, 2002 ($7)
Hunter Valley, Australia
Light gold in color
An attractive/exotic nose for a value-priced wine: scents of lime, yogurt, pineapple, grass, olives
In the mouth it starts crisp and finishes creamy (think: lime spritz giving way to key lime pie)
***.5 (3.5 stars out of 5)
Try it with olive bread/tapenade, smoked poultry, pasta; as an aperitif
That's crazy!
You can't get a good verdehlo cheap here. I think my fav is the Moondah Brook and it retails here for $17 and it is great esp with something hard to pair like indonesian, damm they go good together... but obviously more normal pairings work great too :)
Posted by: clare eats | 22 October 2005 at 12:29 PM
Perhaps this is a Verdelho anomaly? Dunno, but I've had it a few times and quite liked it.
Posted by: beau | 23 October 2005 at 02:29 PM