After a busy month of all work and no play, a weekend away was badly needed so a last minute brainwave saw us booked onto a flight to Berlin to ring in the New Year. Determined to try to get to the end of as many bottles of Riesling as possible over the weekend and with my two trusted and willing comrades in tow by the Sunday we were Riesling-ed and Schnitzel-ed out of it! A change of tack was needed so we headed to the nearest tapas bar in Mitte and settled in for the night. Still happy to veer away from Sauvignon Blanc(their tipple of choice) but on the condition that neither the word trocken or halbtrocken be seen anywhere near the bottle... we really had over done the "when in Rome". It was one of those amazing dark taverns lit solely by candlelight with tiles on the walls and napkins all over the floor, ironically typically Spanish! It would have seemed weird to order anything from their extensive list but a Spanish wine. We went for the Martin Codax Albarino which was ridiculously good value on their list at €20 and one we sell in Cellars so knew it would put a smile on the girls' faces! Straw yellow and bright in colour. A nose full of apples which I thought might be a problem as slightly reminiscent of the last Riesling we had drunk but had a lovely vegetal or herbal undertone. On the palate it was so fresh there was a slight zing to it. Full-bodied with some lemon flavours and minerality on the finish. Quite dry but lovely balanced acidity which worked really well with the tonne of seafood we ordered!
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| "Not another Riesling, pleease!" |
After a busy month of all work and no play, a weekend away was badly needed so a last minute brainwave saw us booked onto a flight to Berlin to ring in the New Year. Determined to try to get to the end of as many bottles of Riesling as possible over the weekend and with my two trusted and willing comrades in tow by the Sunday we were Riesling-ed and Schnitzel-ed out of it! A change of tack was needed so we headed to the nearest tapas bar in Mitte and settled in for the night. Still happy to veer away from Sauvignon Blanc(their tipple of choice) but on the condition that neither the word trocken or halbtrocken be seen anywhere near the bottle... we really had over done the "when in Rome". It was one of those amazing dark taverns lit solely by candlelight with tiles on the walls and napkins all over the floor, ironically typically Spanish! It would have seemed weird to order anything from their extensive list but a Spanish wine. We went for the Martin Codax Albarino which was ridiculously good value on their list at €20 and one we sell in Cellars so knew it would put a smile on the girls' faces! Straw yellow and bright in colour. A nose full of apples which I thought might be a problem as slightly reminiscent of the last Riesling we had drunk but had a lovely vegetal or herbal undertone. On the palate it was so fresh there was a slight zing to it. Full-bodied with some lemon flavours and minerality on the finish. Quite dry but lovely balanced acidity which worked really well with the tonne of seafood we ordered!Feeling a little tender on our way home we decided our next weekender might be to Spain and an authentic Spanish tapas bar. Definitely more a patatas bravas than a sauerkraut kind of girl...
Great start to 2011, thanks girls xx
Till Next time
Clare
Cellars, the Big Wine Warehouse
Martin Codax Albarino - such an old reliable! Lovely bottle / label design too.
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