Quinta do Carqueijal Rose 2007 and Mussels in Garlic

Quinta do Carqueijal, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, and Touriga Nacional, Douro, Portugal, Rose, Seara d’Ordens, 2007, 12.5%, Whole Foods, $10; September, 2008.

Brigette and I are in the Whole Foods wine section looking for something to have with a mussel dinner. We have come upon a couple pink wines, the dry, fruity kind made popular by Tavel and Provence. Everyone is now making these wines, and why not. Anyway, we are looking at a $8 wine from Spain and this $10 from Portugal. I am holding them up to the light, noticing the Spanish one is much pinker and the one I would choose, when the Wegman’s wine clerk pipes up and says that he would pick the Portuguese. It is, he says, delicious and better than the cheaper, Spanish rose. Okay, I mean, I don’t know these wines and he says that he’s drunk them both. Besides, it is always good to find how much you can trust these people.

The mussels are cooked like you would do a gambas al ajillo, the Spanish tapas, which we love, and play with the ingredients. It has olive oil, lots of garlic, saffron (which got lost), peppers, and onion. It was a wonderful dish.

The wine held up well, adding a nice, tasty grace note to the dinner. As I have said, the color was fairly light. I find that the deeper the pink, the more flavorful the wine, and this was no exception. We have had other, better pinks this summer, even from Portugal, the Paco de Teixeiro Rose (also from Whole Foods) was a good choice.

The nose in this wine was okay, and tasted fine, but unexceptional. With the food it was okay. But, I am left wondering how much better the Spanish wine would have been. I have learned that the Whole Foods guy’s idea of delicious is equal to my okay. With so many good pinks available at cheap prices, next time I would choose a different wine.