Broadbent Vinho Verde, non-vintage.
About $8 here in DE after discount, no sales tax.
Someone here posted a TN awhile back on this wine so I decided to try one. I love simple everyday Vinho Verde, and I love the more complex versions as well, made from Loureiro, Trajadura and Alvarinho.
With the simple version, all I ask is that it is fresh and retains it’s ever so slight sparkle, or “petillance”. The Broadbent was very fresh and had the slight prickle on the tongue, not quite a fizz, that the wine requires to make it interesting and drinkable, for me at least. A burst of fresh lemon fruit and very juicy acidity, with only 10% alcohol, you can drink this all day. So simple, but so delicious and fun. Especially good with some prosciutto or salami to tame the acidity and let the lemon loose on your tongue. The best everyday VV I have had in a long time. Grade: A- in it’s category of simple, everyday style VV.
Although VV is the perfect summertime wine, I’ll drink it all year long as well.
One thing I have not seen in years is a red VV. I had a red Casal Garcia once, it was sharp as a razor blade, as Tom Hill would say a “tazzalenghe”, or “tongue ripper” in Italian, but I loved it. Got it in a wine store in the Portuguese section of Lowell, MA on a business trip about 10 years ago or so, and have never seen it again. Linguisa and VV, a match made in heaven. dc.
A lovely wine – great everyday sipper, and can spice up a nice social lunch without requiring an afternoon nap. I find all the Broadbent-labeled wines to be solid values in their categories…
I’ve consumed cases of this juice over the years and it remains a solid QPR wine but moreso, consistently high quality juice in spite of the paultry price. The simple but attractive label is befitting the wine inside the bottle. The aromatics should also be mentioned as the minerality and pear notes are scintiallating; Dave did a nice job with his description of the flavor profile.
Disclaimer: Bartholomew Broadbent is a close friend. Nonetheless, that has zero to do with my opinion on this wine or any of his wines, in fact.
I was just in the Vinho Verde DOC last week and checking out one of the most promising fairly new labels, available in PA now and possibly coming to MA soon: Quinta de Gomariz. Had their Rose and Red Vinho Verde and my tastes were more favorable with their white version. What I found most intriguing about this property is that they vinify and bottle all of their grape varieties separately. I’ve not seen that in VV before, except for the obvious 100% Alvarinho bottlings which are prevalent in the Minho.
Roy,
Is that red Vinho Verde available in PA? dc.
Dave,
I honestly am not sure what the PA monopoly has in its stores but I bet you could find it online. IF you can’t, I could dig into it with their importer if you are really curious. That said, I seriously doubt that the importer has brought in the red version, only because here in the USA, it would be unknown by 99.9% of the wine drinking population.
Thanks Roy. I will check it out. dc.
The 2008 Gomariz Vinho Verde Red is available at PLCB here.
RT
Richard,
Thanks. The store in Westchester is just up Rt. 202 from here. I will run up there and try to grab one. dc.
Wow, great news!
I honestly was not wild about the Gomariz red or rose VV’s, but the whites are at the upper end of the category. I would like to hear what you think after you’ve tried one Dave.
The Broadbent and Casal Garcia VV are regular summertime choices for me.
This summer however, the Casal Garcia white vv seemed off. It was not as refreshing as in previous summers and reminded me of industrially produced Pinot Grigio.
The Casal Garcia rose vv is nice. I prefer it over the Broadbent or Casal Garcia white vv.
Sounds like either an off bottle or that it was older stock not turned over or kept too long.
I grabbed the 2008 red VV ($10.99) and the 2009 white Alvarinho ($11.99), saw the rose ($9.99) but passed for now.
Cracked the red VV. Yikers, sulfur up the ying yang! Wilma wouldn’t drink any, said there was too much barnyard. Will post a TN later. dc.