CORKAGE

2006 "As Sortes", Valdeorras region, Godello grape.  Before tasting this wine, none of that would have meant a thing to me.  Now it does.  It's yet another white wine I drank in Aspen that is contributing to my expansion as a wine lover.  (Check out the Ken Forrester "FMC" chenin blanc I wrote about last week.) 

So, the As Sortes.  A Spanish white wine made by Rafael Palacios, brother of Alvaro Palacios.  Alvaro and Rafael were born into a prestigious winemaking family in Rioja.  Alvaro struck out on his own and made it huge in Priorat, helping to revolutionize the region, drive prices way up, and produce some outstanding and expensive cult wines.  So Rafael needed to find an out-of-the way, off the radar quality-wise, region where he too could make a mark.  Valdeorras, in the Northeast of Spain, with its damp climate, steep hills and terraced vineyards, had been producing wine for centuries, much of it from the Godello grape, but never with much of a reputaion for quality.  Never, that is, until a new crop of winemakes, including Rafael, came along and introduced modern equipment and techniques and a belief in the potential of this grape in this region to make world-class wine.   

My tasting notes:  I love the nose here, maybe because it's so white  Burgundy (I am so set in my ways!) Maybe Puligny with a little extra dose of citrus, like orange rind.  Taste: like an elegant, high quality but easy Puligny, or like that Flowers Chard I had at Mako a few years ago -- rich elegance in a very silky package -- but this has a bit more going on, more of a mineral component.   Love this.  I feel guilty for loving it, it tastes so much like good chard.  Oh well. 

It'll set you back $45.99 at Wally's in West Los Angeles, probably 5 bucks less somewhere else if you search a bit.  Sorry it's not cheaper, I really am, but it's worth it.