Wines for the holidays

I recently met the export manager of the Martin Codax label from Galicia, Spain.  Martin Codax is a cooperative wine (like the Santa Margherita label of the Alto Adige in Italy) comprised of 550 families.   The export manager’s name is Mariola Varona and she is passionate about this part northwest Spain and the wines produced by Martin Codax.  We met at Avra, a Greek restaurant in midtown Manhattan.

You can feel Mariola’s love for the products as export manager.  I could sense the enthusiasm of the label’s winemaker as well when she told me that the winemaker, Luciano, also consults for other wineries in the area (to the tune of over 120 wineries).  I did not know that Martin Codax was a 13^th century Galician musician and composer, born in Vigo, a seaside Spanish town that is home to the winery.

The albariňo, an indigenous grape from Spain, is a high acid grape.  I found it very refreshing and pleasant with flavors of white flowers, green apples, lemons and vivacious acidity.  It married so well with my Greek salad appetizer and grilled octopus.  It oozed deliciousness.  I find that sometimes when I drink albariňos, maybe it’s chilled in the fridge for too long and it tastes like a whole lot of nothing.  But this wine was different.  It had lots of flavor and complexity to it.  I could see myself drinking it with seafood – any seafood(!) and it being a go-to white wine staple.

I also tasted a 2007 tempranillo made in the modern style called Ergo produced under the same label.  Tempranillo is Spain’s answer to Cabernet Sauvignon.  It had aromatic red fruit aromas and tasted vibrant and fresh, yet elegant.  There was a nice acidity to it and felt full in the mouth (meaning it coated my mouth from the front of the tongue to the back).  Usually I like to drink white wines with my seafood, but this tempranillo was so bright that it married well with my grilled octopus.  I bet you that it will even complement my turkey that I’m going to have this later week.  At $12.00 a bottle retail, it's a steal.

That leads me to my next point -- holiday meals can be stressful.  Can’t be all that bad with a little wine to relax the mood.  And if that bird is dry – like the one I usually eat on Thanksgiving – lube it with the red liquid stuff, like Ergo.  Or eat more sides! 

Wishing you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving.  Giuseppe and I will raise a glass and count our many blessings. 

Links:

www.martincodax.com

www.avrany.com