Marques de Cacerés: Verdejo

D. O. Rueda in Spain is synonymous with Verdejo.

After all, this white grape has been grown on the high elevation plains in Spain for over ten centuries, and over 90% of the region is planted in Verdejo, up from 50% in 1980. Cold long winters with frequent late frosts followed by short hot dry summers with cool nights mean the roots dive deep to find moisture, the grapes have acidity, yet plentiful sun means they ripen well. While considered a Mediterranean climate zone due to its latitude just 90 miles northwest of Madrid and south of Burgos, the higher altitudes brings continental influences, and in fact, Marqués de Cáceres says their Verdejo grows in a distinctly continental area. 

In our estimation, Marqués de Cáceres is synonymous with affordable, high quality wine like this Verdejo from Rueda or last month’s Marqués de Cáceres Cava from Catalonia.

For five generations, Enrique Forner and his family farmed in La Rioja, but because of the Spanish Civil War, for thirty years he lived in France where he learned French winemaking techniques. On his return in 1970,  he founded Marqués de Cáceres, Unión Vitivinícola, S.A. The name Marqués de Cáceres came from a family friend, D. Forner Vicente Noguera Espinosa de los Monteros, Marqués de Cáceres and Grande de España which was granted by the King of Spain centuries ago for outstanding services to the Crown in the war of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. D. Juan Noguera, the current Marqués de Cáceres, maintains a connection to the winery today.

photo of Enrique Forner and daughter Cristina courtesy of the winery

While there may be a long history of Verdejo in Rueda as well as to the name Marqués de Cáceres, the winery has changed with the times:

1. first with  Enrique Forner bringing French winemaking techniques to Spain,
2. second with his daughter Cristina bringing their wines to over 140 countries in the world starting in 1983, and as President since 2007 running the business,
3. and third by hiring woman winemaker Carmen Blanco in 2014 to make their Verdejo in Rueda.

What a great winery to celebrate Women in Wine for Women’s History Month!

But what to pair with this wine?

After checking out this chart, we were inspired to pair this Marqués de Cáceres Verdejo from Rueda with Barbacoa tacos:

tacos and wine pairings include this Verdejo from Rueda with barbacoa

I really had my doubts about pairing something as heavy, flavorful, and rich as barbacoa with a white wine but figured we’d give it a try based on the recommendation in the chart. We also made fish tacos  as a back up. How could we go too wrong?  I mean we are talking TACOS here! But the fish tacos tasted bland after the barbacoa which went so well.

We also paired the barbacoa with a French rose, also suggested in the chart above. Read about the rose pairing here; it was fabulous but this Verdejo was outrageously good! From the chart we also sampled the Catalonia Cava from Marques de Caceres here but we didn’t pair it this time with fish tacos, but a kale Spanish Chorizo bean stew. While I plan to pair Chenin Blanc with Al Pastor possibly in April or May or for Chenin Blanc Day in June, we paired the Lievland from above with traditional South African dishes here.

The #WorldWineTravel group continues its virtual exploration of Spain with a focus on Castilla y León including Ribera del Duero, Rueda, and Toro co-hosted by Allison from ADVineTURES and Lynn from Savor the Harvest Read the invitation with all the details here. Scroll down for related articles from the #WorldWineTravel participants on this month’s theme of “Castilla y Leon – Ribera del Duero, Rueda, Toro.”

Marques de Caceres Verdejo Rueda 2020 has a new label– and tiny vineyards?

2019 Marques de Caceres Verdejo Rueda
ABV 13.5%
SRP $10

Color: Pale yellow, nice clarity, light bounces.

Nose: Beachy nose, sea grass, sea foam, sea spray, foggy misty beach; there is a salinity to the nose plus lime and grapefruit. John: “Oh my god did you smell this thing, musty, like the barn got wet by the rain. Maybe even the diesel tractor in the barn.”

Palate: Grassy, oxalis, vitamin c, lime, mouthwatering acidity. As the wine warms in the glass, there is more character. So much salinity and acidity.

Pairing: Loves the salinity and the richness of the oyster, bringing out a beautiful melon characteristic in the mouth. Very nice with white anchovies on a plain cracker; anchovies are usually such a strong rich flavor on their own, but with the wine they are rich, mellow, and lovely. So many aromas that were not present before become available with the wine. With the barbacoa, the wine has white stone fruit, and almonds, amaretto.

Who would have thought that a white wine would be so wonderful with a spicy meat meal, but this works so wonderfully together.

Fantastic spices in the food is wonderful with the wine.

Marques de Cacerés: Verdejo

Join our twitter chat on the topic of “Castilla y Leon – Ribera del Duero, Rueda, Toro” on Saturday March 27 at 8am Pacific. Here’s the discussion questions and timing, but you can follow the chat anytime by checking out the hashtag #worldwinetravel: