Having been brought up in a family which enjoys fine wine (and really cheap plonk, to be honest), it was only right that I selected a particularly special bottle to present to my mother on Mother's Day. Of course, finding a premium bottle on a supermarket budget isn't always that easy, but no-one was disappointed when I received a Marqués de Cáceres white Rioja to review.
Marqués de Cáceres Blanco White wine
At £8.49, you can't really go wrong with this zingy Spanish blanco. As someone who's hardly a wine connoisseur (I literally thought a "dry white wine" was a wine that left a dry sensation in your mouth until I discovered that it just meant the wine wasn't sweet), it's still hard to miss the refreshing fruity, citrus notes.
Described as a "dry white wine from Viura grapes" and "fresh and vibrant with mineral notes", this sort of unaged white wine goes splendidly with tapas; particularly grilled fish and shellfish, gazpacho, fresh salads and garlic. The mother was especially impressed with her Mother's Day tipple, her expert opinion being: "Ooooh, that IS nice!"
One important thing to note is that the Marqués de Cáceres collection is completely vegan friendly. This might confuse a lot of people, as one would naturally assume that there are no animal products in wine... But that's where you'd be wrong. A common ingredient in a lot of beer and wine is isinglass; a kind of gelatin made from fish bladders which helps to remove impurities in the clarifying process. Plus, egg whites and milk protein are also sometimes used in making wines.
A website you can use to check whether or not your favourite wine brand is vegan is Barnivore.com. The site states that Marqués de Cáceres wines use bentonite clay rather than isinglass in the filtering process. So that means you can enjoy a lovely glass of Blanco White with your plant-based diet worry-free.
Other bottles in the range include the Verdejo White (£8.99), the Rosado Rosé (£8.49) and the Crianza Red (£9.49) so there is literally something for all tastes. You can purchase your own bottle (or two) online HERE.
Tagged in Wine