Vinho Verde

There was a good price on salmon a few days ago and I was in the mood for something spicy so I fixed some salmon cakes full of Sambal Oelek, red onion, a myriad of Asian spices including ginger and lemon grass and served them with rice cooked in coconut milk.   It's a recipe I love and makes for a wonderful meal.

My "go to" wine for this dish was always a dry Riesling or a Gruner Veltliner, but this time I opted for a Gazela Vinho Verde from northern Portugal.  VV is always fresh and new which is one reason it translates as green wine.  The wine is not vintage dated.

It was almost transparent in the glass and smelled like just crushed, tart grapes.  The wine bordered on being sparkling as a multitude of bubbles lined the glass.  It was clean, crisp and fresh in taste with green grapes and Granny Smith apples being the primary flavors.  It finished with just the smallest amount of sweetness.  That sweetness at the end was near perfect with the salmon as it cooled a bit of the heat from the spices.  

The best part was the price.  At $6.99 it is hard to go wrong with this wine.

Gazela Vinho Verde.  9% alcohol and $7.