Morning all,

Hope you all had a great long weekend.

Simon’s Wine of the Week is Bodegas Venta La Vega Adaras Aldea Blanco

I tasted this wine for the first time last week in a Spanish Tapas Bar. I’d been looking forward to trying it for a while as it’s right up my street. I wasn’t disappointed.

Bodegas Venta La Vega is situated in the foothills of the Almansa mountains to the East of the La Mancha plain in central Spain. Not a hugely well-known area, but it is part of a growing trend of new wave Spanish winemakers making fantastic wine outside of the more well-known regions. The Bodegas is committed to being as sustainable as possible and all their wines, including this one, are Organic.

The vineyards are located at altitude which means that you can make super fresh white wines in traditionally a red wine area. This altitude brings cooler growing conditions that suit this style of white. The blend of grape varieties in the wine is mostly Verdejo with some Sauvignon Blanc. Verdejo is mainly grown in Spain, where it makes some superb wines in Rueda to the West of La Mancha. If handled well it can make super fresh wines with lots of lime, melon and peach flavours, and delicious bracing acidity. It’s a personal favourite and I’ve often wondered why it isn’t more famous. It is often blended with Sauvignon Blanc which brings an aromatic and green fruit note.

To the wine itself. The first thing you notice is the super cool packaging, it really does look great. Those of us of a certain vintage may even think it owes something to the interior design of a certain planet destroying space station from the late 70s. The wine is pale green/lemon in colour. The nose is light and fresh with herbal notes as well as lime, lemon zest, peach, freshly mown grass and granny smith apple. The palate is lovely and bracing with more peach, lime, herbal and lemon flavours, supported ripe apple and greengage.
I really liked this wine!

When it comes to food this is super versatile. It works great on its own, but it is great with spicy food or any food that has lime in it - if it’s got lime juice in the recipe then I always serve with a good Verdejo. A personal recommendation would be to try it with tiger prawns with lime, chilli and ginger. I love it with a bit of goat’s cheese as well.

This wine is a great addition to any wine list as you really do get bang for your buck. It would suit anywhere where sustainability is a priority (it is both Organic and Vegan), or who is looking for a super cool white and wants to move away from the more traditional grape varieties.

Have a great week,

Simon