Wannabe Wino

Our host for this month's Wine Blogging Wednesday is Michelle of My Wine Education. The theme she has chosen is two-fold, our wine choice should first be from Spain, and second, it should fall into the $10 and under category. Bonus points if you get a wine not from Rioja, in order to think outside the most popular wine-growing areas of Spain.

I know I said I wouldn't return to Total Wine if I were searching for a WBW wine or a specific bottle as it was quite difficult in my opinion to find anything in particular, but this assignment seemed custom built for the Total Wine experience. Namely, the cheap part. I've bought my local wine shops out of inexpensive bottles and none of them came from Spain. So back to Total Wine I went.

The selection was actually pretty good. They had at least two dozens bottles that fell into the under $10 category, however, most were red wines. I really wanted a white or a rose as it is hot in VA and the idea of a heavier red in 100+ degree weather just doesn't appeal all that much to me. So I took my chances with this $7.49 bottle of Osborne Solaz 2005 Blanco Viura.

The wine had a real cork closure, weighs in at 12.5% alcohol by volume and hails from from Tierra de Castilla, a wine region in Toledo, Spain. (Do I get bonus points Michelle?) :)

On the nose the wine was lightly floral, with a hint of lime and just a bit of tropical fruit. However, the nose was very light and I had to keep sniffing at it for quite a while to be able to distinguish the aromas.

In the mouth the wine showed lime and bitter almonds. The limes were not tart or acidic, but what I imagine the limes in Sprite would taste like if I drank soda. I realize that bitter almonds sounds a little odd, but I kept going back to it trying to come up with a better descriptor, but that's really what it was.

I served this wine with king crab legs, butter and fresh squeezed lemons. The note on the bottle actually suggested a pairing with shellfish, and I happened to be serving king crab, so it was time to break out this bottle. It really wasn't fabulous with the crab. I think the strong, fresh lemon flavors overpowered the light qualities of the wine.

Overall, this is a very simple white wine. It showed better on it's own than with food, though something about it suggested it might be a good match with a sharp cheese. It had a light aroma and a light flavor and I can pretty much describe it as neutral. It was easy to sip and drink, but nothing stuck out about it.

Many thanks to Michelle for hosting!