Gessami [Blend] (Penedes, Spain) - 2004
An absolutely fantastic white wine. Drinking it was a pleasure from the first sip to the last. Sometimes, you take the first sip of a wine, and immediately know that it is unlike anything you've had before; a whole new corner of the world of wine is suddenly opened to you. Drinking this wine was such an experience. I literally said "wow" after the first sip.
When I first tasted the wine, I knew there was something unique to it, but I couldn't place my finger on it. There were obvious and known flavors - it was full of ripe pears, apricots, pears, etc. - but underneath it all there was something distinct, familiar, and unnamable. I thought perhaps a fragrant spice like rosemary or thyme. As the wine opened up, the familiarity of the bouquet began to infuriate me. I simply could not place a name to the scents and flavors I was getting. Finally, in the last few sips, it clicked - flowers. The combination of fragrant flowers and rich, ripe tree fruits was something else.
This wine is a Muscat/Savignon Blanc blend (more on that below). With Muscat you normally think of a cloyingly sweet, syrupy wine. Not so with this. It had a dryness similar to an Albarino, though perhaps not as bracing. The body was medium-full, with a definite weight and thickness to it. The structure was great, full throughout but not one note. There were waves of flavor hitting different areas of your mouth in a cascade of flavor.
I don't truly "know" much about this wine other than what was given to me on the tiny card that came out with it (it was part of a 3 glass flight of Iberian wines that I had with my meal, and was the definite standout). Other than a small card which identified the wine and the grapes, I didn't learn the maker or the price. I've done some research on google and believe I have found the bottle in question. The producer appears to be called Gramona and the actual blend is 70% muscat and 30% sb (60% is muscat from Alexandria and 10% from Fontignac - don't ask me what the hell that means). Apparently, Gessami means jasmine though I can't confirm that was the floral notes I was smelling - I'm just not that good. Apparently, the big RP himself likes this wine but we don't quote experts on this site. So if you want to see what he had to say you'll have to make use of google [note - he did not detect jasmine].
Online retailers appear to be selling the wine for somewhere between $15-$20 a bottle. Go get it. Now.
When I first tasted the wine, I knew there was something unique to it, but I couldn't place my finger on it. There were obvious and known flavors - it was full of ripe pears, apricots, pears, etc. - but underneath it all there was something distinct, familiar, and unnamable. I thought perhaps a fragrant spice like rosemary or thyme. As the wine opened up, the familiarity of the bouquet began to infuriate me. I simply could not place a name to the scents and flavors I was getting. Finally, in the last few sips, it clicked - flowers. The combination of fragrant flowers and rich, ripe tree fruits was something else.
This wine is a Muscat/Savignon Blanc blend (more on that below). With Muscat you normally think of a cloyingly sweet, syrupy wine. Not so with this. It had a dryness similar to an Albarino, though perhaps not as bracing. The body was medium-full, with a definite weight and thickness to it. The structure was great, full throughout but not one note. There were waves of flavor hitting different areas of your mouth in a cascade of flavor.
I don't truly "know" much about this wine other than what was given to me on the tiny card that came out with it (it was part of a 3 glass flight of Iberian wines that I had with my meal, and was the definite standout). Other than a small card which identified the wine and the grapes, I didn't learn the maker or the price. I've done some research on google and believe I have found the bottle in question. The producer appears to be called Gramona and the actual blend is 70% muscat and 30% sb (60% is muscat from Alexandria and 10% from Fontignac - don't ask me what the hell that means). Apparently, Gessami means jasmine though I can't confirm that was the floral notes I was smelling - I'm just not that good. Apparently, the big RP himself likes this wine but we don't quote experts on this site. So if you want to see what he had to say you'll have to make use of google [note - he did not detect jasmine].
Online retailers appear to be selling the wine for somewhere between $15-$20 a bottle. Go get it. Now.
posted by rawls at
11:14 PM
1 Comments:
I agree with rawls on this wine. I was expecting something completely different, but was surprised how smooth and delicate this gessami really is -- especially knowing that I was drinking a blend of Muscat and Sauvignon Blanc. I would like to look for similar blends either in the same region or elsewhere to see how they compare. Good find rawls!
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dmarvs, at 3:49 PM
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