While this past week is the last week of my really busy season at work, it was also the first week since the middle of January that Hubby and I didn’t have 3 nights of classes between the two us. Sure, it’s hard for me to know that he can come home after work and relax, while I still have another 4 weeks of studying and 14-hour Mondays, but there is an upside—we now have two more nights a week for a real dinner. School nights consist of one or both of us are grabbing soup, eating cereal, or throwing together a sandwich at 10:30pm. We sit down together to catch-up while the other one scarfs down food 30 minutes before bedtime, but there’s no enjoyment in the food or the eating, not to mention that you start to hate soup, cereal, and sandwiches. With Hubby’s semester being over, we’re back to sitting down together at a human dinner time, or at least normal dinner time for us, on most weeknights. Who knew that something so simple could be so nice?

The return of a real dinner also means that I have a few more opportunities for fun food-wine pairings throughout the week. On Tuesday night, I opened the 2007 Martin Codax Albariño (vineyard, snooth). The wine was a nice, medium yellow and very aromatic. After swirling the wine, I only had to put my nose near the glass to pick up the nice lime and green apple aromas. On a second check, I also found ripe melon and stone fruits. In the mouth, the Martin Codax tasted of lime, blossoms, and peach, mixed with the slightest bit of honey. The wine was crisp and refreshing without being too acidic.

Is this worth a glass after work? Sure…you won’t be drinking anything out of the ordinary, but you’ll definitely have a decent, reliable glass of wine. At $13 a bottle, the Martin Codax Albariño is not a complex wine, but it can easily accompany and enhance an after-work dinner. I drank the wine with a crab and avocado salad, which was a wonderful summer pairing, on my first night with the bottle. On my second night, I drank the wine with a spicy, garlic chicken and broccoli stir-fry, which also was a great pairing. The wine cut down on some of the spiciness of the sauce, and the spiciness helped enhance some of the juicy peach and melon flavors of the wine. So, don’t hesitate to grab this wine if you see it.

Overall: 3 Corks