Last night we went to some friends for dinner, I was asked to bring a red that might match with a mild curry. Dinner consisted of a hummus starter. then a caprese salad, and then tilapia along with the vegetable curry. I switched from white to red as needed (I had also carried the majority of a bottle of leftover GV, but it was consumed before sitting down).
The 2006 Las Brisas (Rueda) was a pleasant if smaller scaled white, with grapefruit as the primary aroma, edged with a hint of orange peel. Nothing deep here, but certainly acceptable QPR at $8ish I think. B/B-
2004 La Casaccia Freisa (Monferrato) First of all, I liked this a lot. Secondly, let me say it was absolutely not what I had expected. My prior experiences with Freisa have been all in one of two categories: extremely light frizzante wines, and and still wines that are fuller but still quite light. This was more of a medium-bodied red, with high acidity and modest tannins. The flowers meets red berries that I somewhat expected, but in a much bigger riper package, and with some almost Nebbiolo-like tar. Actually, if you poured this for me and told me it was a Langhe Nebbiolo I'd have accepted it in a heartbeat (and thought it a pretty good one). It was a little much for the food, but a nice wine I'll buy again. B+Not the most successful night of food-wine matching, but I'll claim in my defense that the dishes were exactly what I expected, and the challenge of it being red made it much harder.
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency