In days past there was a regular monthly occurrence called “Wine Blogging Wednesday” when wine bloggers from around the world would all write about a common theme.  There was also a “host” to the event who would write up a summary of all the participants so that you could go to one place to find all the contributions to that theme.  It was a fun time of collaboration, community and sharing.  I was fortunate enough to participate in a few of these events and I’ve even hosted one.  But as time passed, somehow the event fell into obscurity.

My read on the dissolution of Wine Blogging Wednesday is that the organizers just got busy and burned out on organizing it.  Although there were still people interested in participating, in fact there was a lot of interest, nobody wanted to “steal” the idea even though the originators had lost energy for it.  So, it fizzled.  I also theorize that the rise of Twitter and Facebook were part of the fall of WBW since a big part of WBW was the community factor and social media replaced that community activity.  But all of that is just speculation.

And so, today Wine Blogging Wednesday returns thanks to our gracious hosts Ryan and Gabriella at Catavino.  The theme for this return of WBW is Spanish wines, and Ryan and Gabriella have challenged participants to find something that we’ve never had before.

First, I’ll confess that I didn’t put as much time into preparing for this one as I did in the old days.  I used to spend days hunting down something that I thought would be really unique for these challenges.  But life has just been busy for me lately and I didn’t have a lot of time to prepare.  And while I was tempted to just right a review of a garnacha/tempranillo blend and pretend I didn’t notice the rules of the challenge, I lucked out.  When I searched through the wines I had on-hand, I just happened to have a verdejo… and it just so happens that this is the first verdejo that I’ve tasted.  That’s one more entry for my Wine Century Club application — which I can’t believe I haven’t finished yet.

Verdejo is a white wine varietal that produces light, fresh wine similar to sauvignon blanc.  While most verdejo is grown in the Rueda region in Spain, the Tapeña Verdejo is from the “Tierra de Castilla”, outside of the D.O. system.

The bottle I happed to have is from the 2008 vintage, which you can still find on the market in some locations.  But the 2009 has also been released, so you may find a different vintage if you go looking for this.

The nose of this wine at first glance is similar to a sauvignon blanc, but with less intensity and not quite as tropical as many SBs.  The aromas are like lemon drenched pears and peaches with a wisp of nuttiness weaving through it.  The palate has plenty of crisp apple and pear flavors with reasonable concentration and sufficient acidity.  It finishes with a touch of lime.  This is a really nice, light wine that would go well with a light fish.

If you like sauvignon blanc, this is worth a try for something different.

Wine: Tapeña
Variety: Verdejo
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 12.5%
Rating: 86
Price: $10.00

Find Tapeña Verdejo with Snooth

Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.