A Wine Lover's Weekly Review Of $10 Wines - A White Blend From Calalonia

This is one of our very first Spanish wines, and if memory serves me correctly, our first wine from Catalonia, a region of northeastern Spain known for fine wine and lots more. But you say, Rene Barbier sounds French. Yes, it's true; Monsieur Barbier left France for Spain in 1880. His winery specializes in Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. It now belongs to Freixenet, a very high volume Spanish company, that does a lot of sparkling wine such as the well-known Codorniu. This particular wine is made from three native white grape varieties, Xarel-lo, Macabeo, and Parellada. It carries the Penedes DO appellation.

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.

Wine Reviewed Rene Barbier Classic White 2008 Penedes DO 2008 11.0% alcohol about $9.50

Let's look at the marketing materials. Tasting Note : Pale straw yellow with a green tinge; floral with citrus aroma; light body, crisp acidity, medium length finish, good quality wine. Serving Suggestion : Serve with seafood or pasta dishes. And now for my review. At the first sips the wine was quite light and tasted of unripe apples. Its acidity was fairly harsh. The initial pairing was with a cheeseless lasagna based on a moderately spicy salsa. Now the wine's acidity was more refreshing perhaps because it was dealing quite well with the dish's light grease. It seemed as if the apples were almost ripe. The accompaniment was pancakes that contained spinach, potatoes, oat bran, and garlic. Now the apples were biting but ripe with good, crisp acidity.

The next meal started with a roasted vegetable soufflé. The wine presented sharp but pleasant acidity with green apples and lime. With a barbecued chicken breast this wine was not very acidic and rather sweet. Dessert was fruit juice candy that muted the wine.

My final meal was composed of an omelet laced with ground chilies. The wine was fruity and long; I couldn't help but think about a terrace somewhere in Catalonia. The accompanying avocado enhanced the wine's acidity. The humus (ground chickpeas plus) muted the wine.

I completed the tastings with two local cheeses. When paired with a yellow cheddar this wine was appley and mouth cleansing. With tastier Swiss cheese the Barbier showed bright acidity. A fresh (admittedly off season) strawberry almost gutted the wine.

Final verdict. I know I won't buy this wine again, even if some of the pairings went relatively well. The proof is that about a quarter of a bottle remains and will surely end up down the drain. On the upside at 11% this is a low-alcohol wine, a species that's getting harder to find unless you are into coolers, which will never be reviewed in this column.