#22- Verdehlo

We have a winner!! And this was decided by Craig within seconds of tasting this wine so it must be a good one. In fact, I think it took Craig mere minutes to drink his first glass of wine and as I was leaving not ten minutes later, he had poured himself a second!

This Verdehlo wine was part of the group of four wines I had purchased from Crestwood Liquor store. It was also the wine I had brought for the brother and I to drink on our second day of hiking. The hike didn't happen but the drinking of wine sure did. 

I have to tell you a funny story. So just before Craig and I had left for our hiking trip a couple of weeks ago, I headed into the Crestwood Liquor Store in Edmonton's west end to pick up a couple of bottles of wine. I lucked out and managed to find four wines on my list, and all around the $20 mark which is very affordable and pleasantly surprising.

I took the four bottles to the checkout and as the clerk rang my order through he said "interesting choices, you have four very rare grape varietals here." Laughing that finally someone noticed my odd choices, I told him about my blog and my attempts to drink every grape varietal out there. He thought it was a fantastic idea and wished me luck! I had a good chuckle on the way home, knowing that he probably thought I was a little off my rocker. But it was nice to see someone noticing my choices!

The Potts Family Bleasdale Winery in south Australia is who made this 2009 Verdehlo wine, aptly named the "Potts Catch". Ideally drunk with some seafood, I poured the wine and sat down to a good ol plate of spaghetti. I had just come off a weekend of hiking and was in no mood to cook so I popped the already made sauce into the microwave and 10 minutes later I had myself some dinner. All the same, the dinner and wine were both delicious.

Judging by my picture, it was another July evening in Alberta. This year we have had our share of thunderstorms and that evening was no exception. Hot during the day, thunderstorms by night. I was just about to settle down outside to eat but the wind started to pick up and the clouds in the sky were taking a nasty turn. Inside I go.

Now I do agree with Craig. This is a delicious wine. It was very crisp and light on acidity. Reminded me of a good chilled Sauvignon Blanc. It was fruity but not overbearing and according to the website, should have a grassy taste as well. While I didn't particularly notice the grassy taste, I haven't found myself snacking on my lawn clippings either. But what  struck me was how vibrant the taste was and I too had an easy time of drinking two glasses of it in no time. I can only imagine what this would have tasted like after a long day of hiking!

The grape variety itself is very popular in Portugal, particularly for their Madeira wines. But like many new world countries, Australia is doing its best to become a leader in wines with grapes not traditionally known by others. I do hope that the Potts Family continues their Verdehlo and I will be on the lookout for their family of reds as well.

In a few weeks time, I am heading over to Europe for a three week vacation. I'm in the mood to gather new wines and bring back some wines that you just can't get here. Anyone have a favourite wine that you can suggest to me? I know my three readers out there must have at least one suggestion each! Our next wine fingers crossed is a good one. While I've had wines from this wine maker before (and loved both), I have not tried this grape variety from them. Next up is the Primitivo, also known around these parts as the Zinfandel!