Wine of the week: Balnea Verdejo 2019

This Spanish white takes the Trump tariff in stride and yet again delivers value

We’ve written a lot on the blog about how some French and Spanish wines boosted their alcohol levels to get around the Trump wine tariff – and how many of them suffered for it.

The Balnea Verdejo 2019 ($12, purchased, 14.5%), on the other hand, has a high enough alcohol level so it would have been exempt from the tariff. But it still tastes like it’s supposed to taste, and it doesn’t taste like it’s 14.5 percent. There are a couple of subtle differences between this vintage and the 2018, which was just 12.5 percent. But it’s still a fine value and a Hall of Fame wine.

The 2019 isn’t quite as zippy and lemonish as the 2018. Instead, it’s more full in the mouth and feels a bit heavier, with an almost glycerin finish. But heavier is relative – this isn’t a big red wine. Rather, it’s just not quite as light as it was the year before.

What impressed me most, given how poorly made so many of the other wines with boosted alcohol seemed, was that the Balnea was still a professional, competent wine. I can’t imagine it’s easy to add two full points to the alcohol level on a crisp, light white wine so that it still tastes like a crisp, light white wine.

But in this case, it does.

Imported by The Artisan Collection