First Ever August New Year’s Resolution for fun with Albarino wine
Delicious and refreshing Albariño!
It’s time for another fun monthly New Year’s Resolution for Wine!
And Happy International Albariño Day!!!
Wait, what? I’m confused.
Let’s talk about this!
First, the monthly resolution part. No more: OH NO, I SCREWED UP MY RESOLUTION AND ITS ONLY THE 3RD DAY OF THE YEAR.
This is another chance to get that Resolution thing right!
No reason a resolution can’t be fun!
AND,
August 1st is National Albariño Day!! YAY!!
I did not make that up. Other people did.
If you want to hear more about made up wine holidays, click here. I wrote about some of them in my post on The Top 5 Fun Ways to celebrate Drink Wine Day. You should totally get in on this.
Let’s kick this already special day up a notch by combining two basically made-up things.
Here’s what is totally made up by me: THE MONTHLY NEW YEAR”S RESOLUTION for WINE!
In case you are new to this monthly New Year’s resolution for wine:
Welcome!
If you have been doing this all along:
Welcome back! This is number 8!
New Year’s wine resolutions are the way to go.
Wine Resolutions hold promise for good times and more joy!
January should not be the only time to make positive fun changes to your life.
No one should have to remember each monthly resolution so here is a brief recap:
(Just skip on down if you don’t want a recap.)
If you want to see what you’ve been missing, here are the links for the past monthly resolutions. Do them in any order. Feel virtuous that you have completed a New Year’s Resolution. Woo!
Click here for January. The first wine resolution was about Chardonnay wine and comparing Old World and New World wines. I talk about those differences in a lot of blog posts. Definitely look this over if you want to know something about Old World Wines (that usually means Europe.) They have rules and regulations out the wazoo. Just saying.
Click here for February. This resolution was all about Champagne. No downside to finding something to celebrate with Champagne. (Spoiler Alert: Champagne is made with Pinot Noir)
Click here for March. March was all about the Beaujolais.
Click here for April. This resolution was about Riesling wine. It wears so many different hats. It also can totally mess with people who are trying to do a deductive blind tasting (that means they are trying to figure out what wine it is.)
Click here for May. We travelled to Spain. Such great value wines there.
Click here for June. That was an easy one. It was how not to be a lemming about wine. Don’t be a blind follower.
Click here for July. That was falling in love with Pinot Noir, even if it can be a heartbreaker.
For August, resolve to enjoy Albariño wines.
Clearly this will not be a tough one.
There is so much to enjoy with these wines. First, though, a little information:
Albariño is a white wine. It is primarily from Rías Baixis in Spain. If you want to know how to pronounce the grape and place correctly check out this pronunciation guide from Wine & Spirit Education Trust(WSET).
Just to confuse you, it is known as Alvarinho in Portugal. Because it is really such a delicious and popular wine, it is now also being grown in California, Argentina, New Zealand, Brazil, and even Uruguay.
But why is it so enjoyable?
Good question:
First of all, the aroma is expressive.
That told me nothing.
Basically, that means when you sniff the wine, you easily smell something.
Have you ever gone into a restaurant and the smell just makes you want to drool? You get excited about what you are going to eat or order. The food may not live up to it, but the anticipation and the positive expectations are there.
The aroma should add to the enjoyment of wine. While I almost always try to breathe in the aroma of the wine, I do not try to put a name to everything. If the spaghetti and meatballs smelled great, I wouldn’t try to figure out what kind of garlic was used and where it was grown. If the wine smells great it shouldn’t become a test to name exactly why.
If you want, try to find your own words to describe the aromas. You won’t want to describe it so specifically that only you understand, however. Saying the wine smells like the water skiing boat you used that summer on the lake, is probably not going to help you in the long run. But you do you.
You do not have to swirl and sniff. But, it does make the wine even easier to smell.
Come on! Your Monthly New Year’s Wine resolution is to have more fun with Albariño wine,. Go for it. Swirl a little. The oxygen helps release many of the aromas.
To give you a frame of reference, many people describe the aromas with fruit descriptions. Some say citrus, while others say more apricot.
I am extremely impressionable with identifying aromas. If you smell it, I will too. While some people are quite gifted with identifying aromas, some people just make stuff up. Don’t get intimidated. This is supposed to be fun.
Some people get a much clearer idea of the aroma when they swallow the wine. Not to be too technical, but it is called retro-nasal should you want to throw that tidbit around.
AND NOW…
Picture yourself here.
Albariño goes so well with all things sea side. I’m picturing Marbella.
Are vegetables calling out to you with this image?
Albariño goes beautifully with salads and veggies.
Is shellfish more your thing?
Albariño is made for this kind of dish.
The flavors of Albariño are often described as fruit forward balanced with acidity.
Many people hear acid and think, OH NO! That sounds bad. But acid in wine is the sidekick that can bring life to the party! It can add brightness and make the wine taste more refreshing. It is great balancing out sweetness in the wine. It also can make you salivate which really helps when matching with food.
If you want to read more helpful stuff like that, check out my post on the Top 10 Things you need to know to have a useful wine vocabulary.
When I say fruit, I do not mean berries. That is definitely more of a red wine thing. Much like the aroma, think citrus or apricot. Sometimes people add a floral mention. Don’t worry about the descriptors. It really is a refreshing and delightful wine.
Many wine writers describe it as approachable and accessible.
What does that even mean??
The buzzwords mean different things to different people. One wine dictionary actually defined approachable as accessible. Not helpful at all.
Approachable (or is that accessible?) means you don’t have to age it to make it drinkable. There aren’t a lot of tannins.
Some people translate it to mean: anybody could like it and it won’t cost an arm and a leg.
Let’s go with an easy-drinking, delicious wine that is not crazy expensive. It is also pretty low in alcohol. It usually comes in about 12.5% ABV (alcohol by volume.)
It really goes great with Chinese Food.
Not the same image as a vacation by the water, but Albariño is a great choice here. Also recommended with other types of Asian cuisine.
The prices for albariño vary, but they are rarely stratospheric. At my neighborhood wine store, there were some bottles below $15. There were also many in the mid to high $20 range. Hopefully, there will be someone reliable to help you.
Always ask what you are gaining by spending more. Ask what you may be losing if you spend less.
If you want to go all in, buy 2 bottles at different price points and compare. Comparing wines is the best way to learn what you like.
Cheers to the joys of wine exploration!
How fantastic that you can have a New Year’s Resolution that is so much fun!
ENJOY!
