Verdelho

Just tried a new grape I didn't know about: Verdelho.

Last Thursday, celebrated visit from gal pal Jane and her new beau, by serving big green salad, asparagus, and grilled fish and chicken. Topped it off with 2005 Ibis Landing Verdelho from Donegal Wines, Australia.

A great grape... none of that grabby aftertaste peculiar to a lot of dry whites. This is a complex, crisp, light colored wine that reminds me of eating a walnut and pear salad: layers of flavor, each note distinct. Nutty but also citrus-y: can you dig it? Not one hint of syrupiness, either (as in, gasp: Chardonnay). Utterly smooth finish and danged inexpensive. Due to absent mindedness, we chilled ours for less than an hour, although we had been storing it in the music studio, our coldest environment here. Haven't lost a wine, yet, in the music cave, and I gotta say, the wine need not have been chilled within an inch of its life (a common mistake of mine).

Here's what's great about Australian wines today: excluding within the borders of Oz, the prices are low for perfectly good table wines, and growers are trying out a lot of uncommon grapes. Verdelho is one, and its revival is a kind of scientific success story, almost like cloning a dodo. And, thanks to Mr Bill at Lotus, Bali's been flooded with the stuff.

There are enough grades of Verdelho that a vintner could go for either a dessert wine or something more like what Donegal created, but it was so good, I would have opened another to enjoy with a light dessert. The Ibis would stand on its own very well as a sipping wine at a cocktail party. Was great with those grilled white meats but would be nice with fruit and cheese or even a slice of toast. Almost like falling in love, I was ready to try it with meringues or raspberries or something fun like that!