While I’m not as dogmatic as Miles from Sideways, I do tend to stick to what I know when it comes to wine. When I go to a restaurant and have to order among white wines I don’t know, I stick to Sauvignon Blanc or dry Riesling. When I go to parties with tables covered by anonymous bottles, I choose Côtes du Rhône. At home, I really like to drink my Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, and White Burgundy (when I have the money!). With wines costing what they do, it can be difficult to commit to a bottle of wine I know nothing about (which is why doing reconnaisance is so important whenever it is possible).
I should be willing to take chances more often.
I had a bottle of the 2006 Francisco Alfonso Pedralonga DoUmia ($24) squirreled away from the January 25th deal of the DC Wine Buyers Collective. It had survived a lot longer than the other wines I acquired from that deal. I don’t know why… maybe it’s because I simply didn’t know what to expect from this wine. What if I opened it and it was undrinkable with the pot roast with which I was trying to pair it?
This wine is from the Rias Baixas region of Spain. This is a coastal region that is famous for its seafood and for a wine that pairs exceptionally well with seafood: Albariño. Such is the supremacy of Albariño that most people, myself included, don’t know that this region also produces red wine (apparently red wine only makes up 1% of the total wine production in Rias Baixas). This particular wine is composed of 70% Mencía, 20% Caiño, and 10% Espadeiro. I’ve never even heard of the Caiño or Espadeiro varietals!
