White Wine Review: Basa Rueda Blanco

Another Great White Wine Value from Spain

Real deal price: $7.99

A few weeks back you read about Las Brisas Rueda, a white wine from an area in Spain northwest of Madrid. That wine made enough of an impression on my palate to try another white from the same region: Basa Rueda Blanco. Once again, an excellent white wine value has been discovered.

Basa Rueda has a vibrant nose of green unripe fruit with a distinct grassiness characteristic of Sauvignon Blanc. That shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, as Sauvignon is planted in the DO Rueda region and is part of this wine’s blend (it also contains Spain’s own Verdejo and Viura).
Sour granny smith apple, zesty lime/citrus, and a slightly grassy/vegetal element mark the flavor of this wine, which has a gush of tart acidity and a crystal clean finish. Actually the finish reminds me of original flavor Gatorade gum: limey citrus flavor with a chalky, thirst quenching tartness. Alcohol is mild, hardly noticeable, yet the wine has surprising body for a light white. Drink it ice cold as a refreshing aperitif, or match with simply prepared white meats (poultry, pork), vegan dishes, mildly seasoned salads.

For the geeks (and conversation): Basa Rueda’s winemaker is Telmo Rodriguez, considered by many wine experts to be Spain’s up-and-coming enologist. A few things make him special, notably his dedication to preserving the terroir in wines and believing that winemaking begins in the vineyard. As a result, he chooses indigenous grapes from old vines that produce extremely low yields. He’s also a proponent of biodynamic methods; in other words, using natural / organic products in growing vines. Biodynamism leads to wines that achieve a pure, true expression of their place of origin.

Score: 91 points
a-8 t-7 b-8 fc-8 v-10

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