WBW #23: Grilled shrimp Charmoula sauce and Rueda

Bar-B-Que Wines is the theme for the 23rd edition of Wine Blogging Wednesday and Vivi at Vivi's Wine Journal is hosting. She asked us to fire up the grill, choose a wine, look at it, sniff it, taste it, drink and then write something about it before Wednesday July 5th. I'll be on vacation next week &mdash hiking in the Glacier National Park — so here is my contribution, a little bit ahead of time.

Choosing which wine to talk about for this WBW was actually a challenge because we have been firing up the grill almost every day since the beginning of the warm season and drank many different wines with our barbecued food. But then, last weekend, we made this delicious grilled shrimp recipe with Moroccan Charmoula sauce.



While the shrimp were grilling, I opened a bottle of 2003 Viña Sila Rueda Naiades, a 100% Verdejo wine. Considered to be the finest white variety in Spain, Verdejo is a native grape of Rueda, a wine region located in central Spain, northwest of Madrid, along the Duero river. Thanks to its sandy and chalky soils, Rueda can produce aromatic Verdejo wines of great minerality and body.

We looked at the wine: it exhibited a bright color with a pretty golden hue. We sniffed it: the nose was fragrant with floral and stone fruit aromas. We tasted it: it was full-bodied with a rich texture, almost like a Chardonnay but more aromatic. We drank it: it stood up to the spicy sauce very well. I made a note to buy more Rueda in the future.



Another great theme for WBW, thanks Vivi! And see you in 10 days or so!

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