River City Cellars

Julia

Benaza Godello, or Whose Idea Was It To Open A Wine Bar?!

As many of you know, the wine bar construction is hitting sprint speed next door, and much like when I first opened RCC some *cough* almost 12 years ago, my diet has gone the way of my beauty rest: to hell. The difference is back then I was 28 and weighed 105. Now I dye the grays out with alarming frequency and eye 'mom jeans' 2.0 with envy rather than irony. And just like in 1998 I eat a lot of cheese. I mean, why wouldn't I? It's 11pm on a Tuesday night and I'm still at the shop, working on glamorous wine bar preparation (like the employee handbook template which admonishes, "do not try and catch dropped knives" and "no show no call no job" or budgeting monthly extermination and grease trap cleaning estimates). I realize, after catching myself licking the salt off stale pretzels to stay awake, that maybe I could use a snack. Do I open a healthy, vegan tin of Dolmas or slather some tangy, semi-curado cowsmilk 'Crucolo' from Trentino, Italy on mini toasts and wash it down with a crisp Spanish white? Yeah. Told you.

Ever heard of Albarino (Spain) or Alvarinho (Portugal)? Heard me wax rhapsodic about its floral fruity acidic food friendliness? Well, check this. Godello is from the same region (Atlantic north western corner of Spain, right above the Portuguese border). This particular one is brought in by one of my favorite Spanish importers, Jose Pastor. Jose Pastor specializes in sourcing small producers who favor indigenous grapes and traditional methods. Godello is one of those grapes. And it does all that Albarino does but with a little more subtlety, more minerality, less peachiness and at a pleasant price. Its well-integrated acidity handles fatty cowsmilk cheese like a big sister schooling her unruly little brother in the art of nunchucks. That would be *swiftly.* Now if I could just find a human food grade salt lick...

Posted by julia on March 16, 2010 in category: Wine - White

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