Monday, 7 May 2012

Airen



This is a wine made from Airen, the grape reputedly planted over the largest area on earth, and all of that is found in the region of La Mancha in central Spain. Now you may associate La Mancha with Don Quixote, but this area has been a DO since 1976 with some 300 wineries in the region. Airen often produces acidic wines of little character, as a result of which it was mainly used for the production of brandy. (cf Ugni Blanc or Trebbiano which tends to produce similar wines, but attain great fame when distilled into the brandies of Cognac and Armagnac)

However, when carefully vinified, the results can be pleasing. The above example is an organic Airen made with care. Lemon yellow, with a crisp slightly fruity nose, it was off-dry with a slightly fruity palate with notes of peach and a good acidic backbone leading to a crisp finish. On one occasion, I had got a pair of wines for a group dinner. One of my drinking friends preferred this to a RP90 Vacqueyras. Praise indeed for a grape often blamed for the EU wine lake!!

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