The Airén vine needs a lot of room (Photo: Bodegas
Ambite)
The two wines this week are both light and fresh easy-drinkers. They’re both low
in alcohol and low in acidity too. But they have something much more interesting
in common.
The Air้n (i-REN) grape hails from Spain and in terms
of acreage, it’s probably the most widely planted wine-grape in the world. This
is rather curious, because most people have never heard of it. Air้n vineyards
cover something like 578,000 acres: almost the size of Luxembourg. The vines are
normally spaced wide apart with the result that the vineyards cover enormous
areas. Nevertheless, the Air้n remains unknown to most people outside Spain,
because it’s not grown anywhere else. Even in Spain, it’s usually limited to the
vineyards lying on the arid plains of La Mancha and is generally used as a
blending grape. It can be used in both red and white wines and although in the
past it has had rather a bad press, some excellent Air้n wines are now being
produced.
“Adventure” Air้n 2010 (white) Spain. (Friendship Bt. 395)
This, I suspect, is one of them. Unusually for an Air้n
(which can have up to 14% alcohol content) this wine is only 11% alcohol and
very pleasant it is too. It’s a pale straw colour and has an attractive fresh,
floral aroma with gooseberries and hints of citrus. It’s a light-bodied wine
with a soft-mouth feel and hardly any acidity. It’s well-balanced too, with a
delightful, delicate fruity taste and the faintest dash of creamy sweetness on
the finish. This is an attractive, undemanding easy-drinker but shows its best
when you serve it really cold at around 9ฐC (about 48ฐF). It would make a good
partner for salads, roast chicken and many Thai or Indian dishes.
I read somewhere that the vast Air้n vineyards will
eventually be reduced significantly, because some Spanish growers are replacing
the grape with the increasingly popular Tempranillo. Grab some while you can.
“Villa dei Tigli” Trebbiano 2010 (white) Italy. (Friendship
Bt. 365)
The Trebbiano grape is the second most widely planted wine
grape in the world. It’s been known in Italy since Roman times. In France it’s
called the Ugni Blanc, but amazingly the grape has fifty other names. The
Trebbiano (treh-bee-AH-noh) grape produces more wine than any other
variety, even though the Air้n can claim more acreage. This example is a very
pale straw-coloured wine from the Abruzzo region, which lies half way down the
“leg” of Italy on the Adriatic side. The wine has a delicate floral aroma with
hints of white fruit. But there’s something else, too.
Do you ever get that frustrating “tip of the tongue”
experience? You know what I mean; there’s a word somewhere in the chasms of your
mind but you just can’t seem to grasp it. Strangely, the exact cause is not
fully understood by medical science. I often have the same problem when I
attempt the Pattaya Mail crossword. Not being much good at crosswords, it
can be a bit of a struggle, but at least the one in this paper is not too
difficult. What am I doing talking about crosswords? This is supposed to be a
wine column. (Glad you finally remembered – Ed.)
Anyway, I had the same experience trying to identify the
aroma of this Trebbiano. Peaches and pears, I think. But I’m not a hundred
percent sure. You’ll have to try it for yourself. You see, Trebbiano grapes tend
to produce wines with little discernable aroma. But a modest aroma is not a bad
thing. When you’re eating fairly simple food, a pleasant undemanding wine like
this one is just right. A powerful fruity aroma with every swig is not always a
welcome treat. The wine has a very soft and aromatic mouth-feel and a refreshing
fruity taste with barely a trace of acidity. This will come as good news for
those who like their whites soft and not too assertive.
It has just 11.5% alcohol content and is an attractive easy
drinker, provided you serve it really cold. Actually, it made a surprisingly
good partner to a piece of ageing Brie I found lurking at the back of the
fridge.
