So how did everyone get on this week? I’ve already seen a few of the comments on Ant’s post from Monday, so it’s now my turn to spill the beans on what I thought this week.
I thin my first thoughts on Torrontés were that it’s just a style of wine that I like. I like the fruity and flowery smells. I like that it’s got a bit of body behind it. I really like the fact that the acidity is a lot less harsh than in other whites you’d maybe bunch it in with. One drawback I have to say is that some of the wines I tried had a slightly funny bitterness to the aftertaste, which wasn’t all that great. But I did find a way round it.
So the first one I tried was Finga La Cella from Morrison’s, and first up for the food pairing was a Thai Green Curry. Despite serving it pretty cold, the aromas were fairly pronounced, and really enjoyable. I got orange blossom, and white peach, and given a few months in barrel there was a faint hint of vanilla in there. The taste was equally good, and I could add a little buttery flavour to the list of aromas. Medium body, medium acidity, but the finish was really quite bitter on it’s own.
So I drank it with the curry. The bitterness went, but I have to say, I think the curry was that little bit too hot. The wife and I just couldn’t get on with it. So much so that half way through we scrapped the curry and brought on the super subs! Goat’s cheese and salami. It was spot on.
We had a few guys and girls staying over the weekend, as the wife’s little brother was over playing a few shows in London. It gave me a chance to test out some wine on some unsuspecting rock stars! We had a cheeky lunchtime venture into the Viñalba from Majestic Wine. We ended up pairing it with bacon sandwiches, which was remarkably good.
The great thing was they came out with absolute gold. I asked them what they thought of the smell – it smelled a bit like those “drinks you have when you were teenagers, you know, the sweet ones”. Then they tasted it and their faces changed a bit. I think firstly being from Norway, and secondly only usually drinking wine supplied by the venues back stage, they don’t exactly drink anything all that good. For the first time in a long time they were drinking something with such a prominent smell but a very pleasant finish. Unexpectedly dry and more-ish. For me, on it’s own, again the finish was a bit too bitter. Another good wine, but definitely one for pairing with some grub.
The night of the gig a few of us headed out to La Patagonia in Camden Town. I’d never been, but what with it being Argentina week here at NWTW, it looked a perfect pairing. My life it was good. The torrontés we had there was very much as I’d come to expect during the week, and the superb empanadas we started with that night, with their slight chilli kick, were amazing with it. The bitterness was gone, and honestly I could have kept going with that pairing all night.
Other highlights of the night were the meat platter (you go to an Argentinian restaurant, you’re going to have a meat platter!), and then the superb sparkling dessert wine made out of…wait for it…Torrontés! It went so well with my Patagonian Tiramisu. It was a normal tiramisu but the bottom was laced with Dulce de Leche. A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips, but who cares right? Absolutely terrific! Thanks to all the staff (Diane and Mila especially) for looking after us.
The last one of the week was the Michel Torino from Spirited Wines. An organic effort from Salta province, I had a go with some steamed sea bass with chilli and parsley. Everything about this was great. It had a slightly more tropical fruit flavour, I’d say pineapple. The food pairing was top drawer, and this was the first of the 4 different torrontés that I’d had in the week that had nearly no trace of bitterness in the after taste. You could drink it on its own or with food.
I really enjoyed Torrontés week, and averaged out the scores of the wines at around 7.5 out of 10. I’m in a good mood so I’m going to round that one up. 8/10.
Onto next week.
Cheers
Other posts in NWTW Week 5:
#NWTW Week 5: Argentinian Torrontés (includes voting poll)
#NWTW Week 5: Argentinian Torrontés (Part Two)
#NWTW Week 5: An Intro Into Argentina
#NWTW Week 5: An Intro Into Torrontés
