Jorge Ordonez & Co. Bontani Moscatel Seco 2010

I've discovered a bit of a milestone today at CWT: I crossed the 1100 views threshold since starting this blog. Neat-o! It doesn't sound like much, but I am thrilled that more people than my husband and my mom are reading. So thanks!!

Anyway, to celebrate I decided to DRINK SOME WINE. Even though it's not super warm out I went with a light white that is perfect for "Haf Bach Mihangel" -- you know, when you get summer-like weather in the fall. In case you're wondering, "haf bach Mihangel" is the PC, less offensive, Welsh term for this phenomenon. But I digress.

Looks like water and tastes
like wine:
a great party trick.

With dinner I had a glass (okay, okay, two glasses) of Jorge Ordonez & Co. Botani Moscatel Seco. Boy is that a mouthful! You might think because of the grape varietal (Moscatel and Moscato are essentially the same grape, just grown in different places) that this would be a sweet wine. It's really not.

Sadly, my kitchen is not a
"super clean" one...

When poured into your glass you'll notice first off that it is very light in color. It ALMOST looks like a glass of water. But don't be fooled. Give it a whiff and you'll smell a refreshing, albeit misleading sweetness. It's also a clean smell-- crisp and citrus-y, like something you'd scrub your kitchen with. There's nothing like a super clean kitchen.

An interesting thing to note: the
cork has the vintage printed on
the top-- 2010.

The flavor was a bit difficult to nail down, as the Botani is the sort of wine that changes depending on what you're ingesting with it. It's all around acidic, with some mineral qualities and a cheek tweak at the end, courtesy of that citrus-y acid. For dinner we had seasoned pork chops and saffron rice, and while I ate I kept tasting butter in the sip. Without the saffron rice accompaniment I tasted grass, dry and tangy minerality. And might I recommend, stop drinking it by the time you get to eating your pumpkin pie. This wine does NOT go well with pumpkin pie.

The bottle suggests pairing the Botani Moscatel with seafood, sushi (aka seafood) or company. This wine would be great with a spider roll (flash-fried soft shell crab with spicy mayo). Yummy! But Reader, please, don't chow down on your dinner guests.

The Jorge Ordonez & Co. Botani Moscatel is best served cool, not cold. So throw a bottle in the fridge but be sure to give the temp a little time to come up before drinking.

Price: $$

My Rating: B