Daily Loaf

The best wines I tried this week:

La Freynelle 2007 White Bordeaux Entre Deux Mers
Dinner out on Monday night. Entre Deux Mers is a little-known wine region in Bordeaux, so you can get tasty wines like this one on the cheap. A blend of sauvignon blanc and semillon that tastes like walking through a grassy field on a warm summer day. Light, dry and citrusy with bracing acidity, earthy chamomile tea, green grass, wet stones and an almost nutty character. Layered and fascinating. Sw=1. $13. 4.5 stars. (I had this again on Thursday night with sushi – it’s that good.) Read more spring/summer white recommendations.

Montecillo 2008 Albarino Verdemar Rias Baixas
With grilled shrimp on Tuesday night. Mmm, Mmm, good. Albarino is a sadly unappreciated white grape but I’m hoping people will begin to see the light that shines on this crisp, acid-forward, grapefruit-ful wine. Hailing originally from the northwest coast of Spain in Rias Baixas, it pairs well with the food of that region: seafood. This version from Bodegas Montecillo definitely has grapefruit, lime and generous acidity but also tropical fruit (pineapple) and a flinty finish. Super refreshing. Sw=1. $14. 4 stars.

Macrostie 2005 Syrah Wildcat Mountain Vineyard Sonoma Coast
Sipped it with barbecue-rubbed pork chops on Wednesday night. This single-vineyard syrah matched the meatiness. Throw in some smoke, black pepper, black cherry, blackberry, chewy tannins and a finish of tar and charcoal and you’ve got one HUGE frickin’ wine. Sonoma Coast sports a cooler climate, so syrahs grown there will be more austere and peppery than warmer climate areas. It’s best to decant or pour it into a glass before drinking it; and consume it with food, like slow roasted beef, lamb or BBQ pork. Sw=1. $34. 3.5 stars.

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