Time for another rosé week! With all of the traveling around that my husband and I had done recently, we did not have the energy to cook. We knew just what the future held and that was Pad Thai from our favorite Thai place, Bua 9. If you’re ever visiting Seattle, I highly recommend stopping in or getting your own takeout order from this little restaurant in the Columbia City neighborhood.
Since I could wax poetic about my love for Rosé endlessly, but I’m sure no one would relish in reading that, I started my research with the origin of this wine. Usually when you see Vinho Verde, you think green wine, but in this case we have a Rosé made with a blend of two Portugese grape varietals. Touriga Nacional is one of the most famous grapes grown in Portugal, but Espadeiro I knew nothing about.
Espadeiro is a red-skinned grape that is popular for blending in order to make Rosé wines. The wines made with this grape are not generally cellared. They are produced with the intent to be enjoyed that same year. Confusingly, Espadeiro refers to a different grape altogether in the southern part of Portugal. So don’t get it confused with Tinta Amarela. *
This wine was from Vinho Verde, Portugal and sampled on July 8, 2019. The pink hue of this wine seemed very light and more on the clear side than some other rosés I’ve tried in the past. The smell was fizzy, like a strawberry soda pop. I was listening to “Cruel Summer” by Bananarama. The high acidity punches you straight in the tongue! It was almost more along the lines of a strawberry seltzer drink. It worked perfectly in cooling down the spicy Pad Thai and the summer heat.
I gave this wine a rating of 4.5. This wine could go well with food and also on it’s own. It was extremely refreshing with just the right amount of zing that would make it perfect for a BBQ party.
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