Spanish white wines beginning to hit value, quality mark

Spanish white wines are growing in popularity, especially among the younger generation, for several reasons.

First, they are value priced; you get a lot of wine for the buck.

Now, Spanish wine makers are using stainless steel rather than concrete to ferment their wines. If they age them, they are using newer, smaller barrels.

The result has been cleaner, fresher wines that have more fruit than in previous years. They are more acidic than the older wines, making them better food companions.

I asked the wine-tasting group to compare five Spanish white wines, ranging in price from $4.99 to $12.99. The results, for the money, were quite pleasant:

-- 2001 Martinsancho Verdejo at $12.99. This wine had a clean, pungent aroma of grapefruit and other citrus plus floral notes. The nose was pretty and crisp. In the mouth, this wine had a bigger body than the aroma promised. It was refreshing, with very pleasant acids. It tied for first in our tasting.

-- NV Rene Barbier Mediterranean at $4.99. This wine was priced extraordinarily low for the flavors it offered. A few years ago, this wine did not have as much to offer, tasters said, but it has improved greatly without huge price increases. We found minerals, pear and a bit of oiliness in the aroma. In the mouth, it was very tangy and fresh. Tasters thought it would complement fairly heavy food. It placed third in our tasting.

-- 2001 Marques de Caceres at $8.99. We discovered bitter lemon and lemon pith in the aroma, with a bit of Old World mineral influence. The aroma was simple, but the wine became more complex in the mouth. The lemon taste carried all the way through to the finish. It was the most traditionally made of the five Spanish wines. Tasters said it tied for first in the tasting.

-- 2001 Castell del Remei at $11.99. This wine had an Old World nose, with minerals and an earthiness. In the mouth, it had a delicate body. The initial taste, on the front of the tongue, was good, but it almost disappeared by mid-palate. The finish was slight.

-- 2000 Montecillo Rioja at $9.99. This wine's nose reminded us of spiced pears. It was tangy in the mouth -- sweet and tart -- with lots of peach flavor. Unfortunately, the finish was almost nonexistent.

Surfing the wine shelves

-- 2000 Chateau Julien Barrel Aged Merlot at $12. The nose of this wine suggested plums and blueberries with slight floral overtones. It was light bodied and tasted of plum with a hint of licorice with an astringency on the end.

-- 2000 Forestville Merlot Sonoma Reserve at $12. We found aromas of berries and plum followed by flavors of the berries, sweet plum and black currant with a hint of oak. It was a lush wine but had a short finish.

-- 1999 Brancott Vineyards Merlot Reserve at $17.99. The aromas of this wine suggested raspberry and cherry. In the mouth, tastes of these fruits with undertones of chocolate, vanilla and wood came forward in this light-bodied wine.

-- 2000 Gallo of Sonoma Pinot Noir Reserve at $15. This is a pretty wine, beginning with the aroma of cherries, strawberries and raspberries. It tasted of these same fruits plus layers of spice and earth gently wrapped in a soft, smooth texture. It had a hint of vanilla on the end. This light-bodied wine would pair well with salmon or tuna as well as duck, turkey and game.

Questions can be sent to Frank Sutherland, editor, The Tennessean, 1100 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203 or e-mailed to editor