5. Albariño

5. Albariño

Crisp sunshine, soft sweet

Peaches dance on my palate

Refreshing, spring’s wine

This first poem of the April challenge is inspired by Pedernales Cellars' Albariño. This wine was a welcome refresher yesterday, as the day quickly reached the upper eighties and had over 70% humidity; it felt like summer had already come. The Albariño eased the day and cooled me. Now, on first glance, the reason for this may be the chilled temperature of the wine. The real reason is the taste of this wine.

A good Albariño is a crisp wine. The wine is like sweet Granny Smith apples -- the ones that are crisp from the hint of sourness. It is a light feel. I would equate it to having Granny Smith's in a fresh, green salad. It is also like honeydew melons. These lighter melons are not overpoweringly sweet or watery, much like this wine. On a warm day, this is refreshing.

Albariño also holds a strong fruity sweetness. This wine isn't the berry sweet of reds, but of softer fruits like peaches and apricots. It resembles these fruits earlier in their season, lightly sweet and soft. These fruits, in late Spring, are light. They sweeten but do not seem syrupy. This is what Albariño captures. It also captures a hint of citrus -- Muscat Cannelli's are strong citrus flavors, like a good orange. Albariño is more like lime.

 
Combining all these fruits -- green apples, peaches, apricots, and limes -- is a refreshment, but it also creates a nice color. There is a light golden color that has hints of early Spring green in the shimmer. It is a beautiful wine to look at. The appearance is as cool as the taste.

As for Pedernales's take, it is a clearly born in Texas the Hill Country. Soft peaches are a powerful component of this wine, much like the landscape in and around Stonewall and Fredericksburg. Right now, there are light blossoms dancing in the sun. Soon, we will see ripe, golden globes. For now, I can have Albariño: fresh peaches, cool and sweet on a hot Texas afternoon.