Bodegas Viña Costeira (Vitivinicola del Ribeiro) "Colección Costeira Treixadura" 2006, D.O. Ribeiro.

Color: quite intense green-yellow.
Nose: expressive, with herbs and some spices, soft, rich, with minerals and ripe fruit (peach, pear) some apples, flowers, not unlike Pinot Gris, with some depth and quite broad, could be a little more pure (clean), good balance.
Taste: rich, unctuous, fresh, some spices, herbs and ripe fruit, nice creaminess, impressions of wood (oak), some (soft) tannins, well balanced, not heavy, but rich ànd fresh.
Finish: medium long, fresh, some wood, slight bitterness, some fruit, herbs and spices, a touch of roundness.

* Rich and soft white wine, at the same time fresh and with nice, ripe and herby-spicy fruit, a touch of wood, a bit Pinot-Gris like in style, good balance. Produced in the emerging cool and humid, Northern Spanish (Atlantic) Ribeiro region from the local Treixadura grape.

- Drink this wine young, do not keep it too long, drink before 2010

- Ribeiro finally starts to awake as a wine region. Located in the most humid and cool part of Spain (the Atlantic north-western part) the conditions are resembling those of the Portuguese Minho region. Grape varieties are quite similar in Minho (Vinho Verde) and Ribeiro, the Treixadura from which this wine is produced, but also the Loureira and Albariño (Alvarinho) are well established in both regions. As these regions are very humid, fungal diseases are always waiting for a chance and often they get it. Vineyard maintenance is crucial. Finding very clean and healthy wines in this area is more difficult than in drier (southern) parts of Spain, but the freshness and elegance in the wines is unmatched, also the specific characters of the wines provided by the unique grape varieties make these wines very interesting. With the new techniques in both vineyards and cellar and most importantly with the settling of new capable, quality oriented producers, Ribeiro has become one of the most dynamic and exciting wine regions of Spain. Wines are seldom cheap, vineyards mostly are quite small scaled, so it takes a lot of effort to produce good wines in this area. Even the big, long established producers such as Vitivinicola del Ribeiro start to produce well crafted wines. This Treixadura is a nice example of the potential of the vineyards, grape varieties and the movement towards quality, it is not the cleanest wine I have encountered in my "wine life" but this is just a slight offset and a minor issue for it has so many other delicious impressions on offer. Keep an eye on Ribeiro, you will be rewarded.
 

- lotnr.: 041 L

- tasted: 17-12-’07

- estimated retail price ca. ?  euro

- average production: no indication