Tag Archives: Spain

Price: 11-15 bucks, Tasting Notes

Viña Cerron 2009

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An interesting blend of grapes for Spain, from the Castilla region. The vintner seems to like round numbers: 25% Tempranillo, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Syrah and 25% Petit Verdot.

A loamy quality that I love on the nose. Dense, dark fruit, but not a bruiser. Fresh, slightly wild, full of spice and a bit of tobacco to accent the blackberry, black cherry flavor. A nice bit of grip on the finish. This is refreshingly balanced for Spain. Sure it’s concentrated & ripe, but it avoids sweetness. There’s a lot to like here. B+

$14 via Garagiste.

Photos of the label too boring to post. Their website shows some much-improved current packaging, Look at that instead.

 

Price: 16-20 bucks, Tasting Notes

Oddball Wine of the Week: Tempranillo Blanco

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I’m always game to try something unusual when it comes to wine. On this blog you’ll see as much Baga as Bordeaux, as much Tannat as Tuscany, and more Mourvèdre than Merlot and Malbec combined. So you know when I had a chance to taste a Tempranillo Blanco, I was all over it. That’s right, white Tempranillo. Not white as in “white” zin, but white as in not red. The grapes themselves are not typical red Tempranillo, but a white- (well, green-) skinned mutant.

Producer: Bodegas Juan Carlos Sancha ‘Ad Libitum’

Grapes: 100% Tempranillo Blanco

I’ll let Wikipedia tell the tale:

In 1988, Jesús Galilea Esteban found a cluster of white grapes on one of the Tempranillo vines in his vineyard, Murillo de Rio Leza, located in Rioja. He removed the cluster, leaving a heel which in turn produced two buds of white grapes. Galilea then contacted the Rioja government agency CIDA, who grafted the buds at their research station in February 1989.

CIDA concluded that apart from the leaves and fruit being a little smaller, the new plants were identical to normal Tempranillo in most respects, and confirmed this with DNA evidence. The most notable difference was that the grape skins were green-yellow rather than the usual blue-black, due to a natural mutation in a single skin colour gene. Similar mutations appear to have happened in many other grape varieties, such as Pinot Noir and Grenache.

CIDA, once the mutation had stabilized, expanded their collection to 100 vines in 1993, and started to make wine on an experimental scale. The first bottling of wine was in 2005, from a hectare of vines planted in 2000. It was fermented in stainless steel tanks and aged in oak barrels. The green-tinged wine had discreet aromas of flowers and tropical fruit such as pineapple, refreshing to drink but lacking a little in acidity. White Tempranillo is currently being distributed to growers having been registered with the State and approved for use in the Rioja D.O.Ca.

Appellation: Rioja

Vintage: 2009

Vineyards: Organically-farmed 1.5 hectare vineyard with clay and limestone soils. Dry-farmed.

Winemaking: Stainless steel fermentation. Native yeasts.

Alcohol: 13%

Price: I paid $16.83 via Garagiste. Closer to $25 online.

Tasting notes: I had no idea what to expect with this one. It starts off with a bold, aromatic nose of stone fruit and petrol. On the palate, it’s an intriguing mix of peach, plum skin and nuttiness with a pleasant bitter note. It has an oily palate presence and finishes long.

Overall impression: A must-try wine for the wine geek set. B+

Free association:

More info:

A good read from 2009 in Decanter on “the rise of indigenous grape varieties” in Rioja.

Image used in Oddball Wine of the Week header found here. If anyone knows the original source, let me know and I’ll credit.

Price: 11-15 bucks, Tasting Notes

Mourvèdre Monday #24: Castaño Hecula 2005

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Back to Spain for Mourvèdre Monday. This one’s from Bodegas Castaño, one of the biggest producers of Monastrell in Yecla, in southeastern Spain. This wine got 90+ points from Parker for 5 straight vintages, including this one. Let’s see what’s up.

Producer: Bodegas Castaño

Grapes: 100% Monastrell

Appellation: Yecla

Vineyards: From 30+ year old vines in two vineyards: Las Gruesas and Pozuelo. Both with soils of sand, clay and limestone.

Vintage: 2005

Winemaking: 6 months of aging. It’s not clear from tech sheet in what vessel, but I would guess tank or neutral oak.

Alcohol: 14.5%

Price: Around $12

Tasting notes: Dusty fruit on the nose playing second fiddle to dried flowers and a sweaty, meaty aroma. I catch a fleeting licorice note as well. On the palate there are rich blackberry and red fruit flavors with an interesting mossy background note. Finishes short and dry with a little heat.

Overall impression: Some intriguing elements that don’t quite come together into a harmonious whole as well as I would like. Still an nice bottle that I enjoyed spending the evening with. And a nice value at around $12. B

Free association:

More info:

90 points from Parker and Tanzer. Parker gave this wine 90 or 91 points in vintages 2002-2006.

Jeff over at Viva La Wino reviewed this one last year and loved it.


Price: 10 bucks or less, Tasting Notes

Mourvèdre Monday #19: Lorca Redux (2008)

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In the last Mourvèdre Monday post, I reviewed the Lorca 2006 Monastrell from Bodegas del Rosario. I wasn’t planning on doing this Lorca 2008 back-to-back with the last, but our dinner of chorizo, shrimp, olives and rice made me want to go to Spain with my wine choice, and this is the last Spanish Monastrell I had on hand. As you may recall, the 2006 did not leave me with high hopes for this one, but I pulled the cork and hoped for the best.

Lorca Monastrell 2008

Producer: Bodegas del Rosario

Grapes: 100% Monastrell (same grape as Mourvèdre, for newcomers). The 2006 had 30% Syrah.

Appellation: Bullas (D.O. Spain)

Vineyards: From youngish (10-20 years), dry-farmed vines at altitudes ranging from 550 to 1060 meters. The soil is clay, sand and limestone.

Winemaking: Stainless steel fermentation and 8 months in 2-year-old French and American oak

Alcohol: 13.5%

Price: $9 or $10 at Costco

My tasting notes: Sticking my nose in the glass, I get the sense of walking the aisles at a hardware store. I start in Aisle 1 with the paint thinner and other solvents. Aisle 2 is the loose nails and bolts. Aisle 3 for some lumber. Oh look, they’ve got cherry Tic Tacs at the checkout. On the palate it’s light with the same sort of dusty red fruit as the 2006 bottling, still without much pop. It disappears very quickly at the end. A very flat experience.

Overall impression: Once again, the Lorca is not fun to drink. Please don’t make this your first Monastrell if you’ve never had one. Try this one or this one or this one instead. C-

Free association:

Photo credit: D’Arcy Norman via Flickr

Price: 10 bucks or less, Tasting Notes

Mourvèdre Monday #18: Lorca 2006

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I already had a bottle of the 2008 Lorca waiting for it’s turn on Mourvèdre Monday when I saw this 2006 stacked up at Costco. I had high hopes this could be another nice Costco find. I originally intended to do a mini-vertical and open both of these at the same time for this post, but I already had 2 or 3 other half-empty bottles of wine open and felt guilty about opening two. So I’ll pop the 2008 another time. Let’s check out the 2006.

Producer: Bodegas del Rosaroio

Grapes: 70% Monastrell and 30% Syrah

Appellation: Bullas (D.O., Spain)

Vineyards: no detail on the website

Vintage: 2006

Winemaking: I don’t think this (the ‘Tinto’) sees any oak (they have ‘Barrica’ and ‘Crianza’ bottlings that get the oak)

Alcohol: 14%

Price: About $10 at Costco

My tasting notes: Not much fruit on the nose. Instead I get chalk dust and mineral aromas and a vegetal, whats-that-funky-smell-coming-from-behind-the-couch quality. Not promising. On the palate, it’s light-bodied and thin with the suggestion of dusty red fruit and a tight, dry, short finish. “Intense odor, complex sensations” is a tagline they use on the website. I think I agree, though not in the way they probably intended.

Overall impression: Not very fun to drink. I’m not too excited about opening the 2008 now. C-

Free association: Writing about this wine makes me feel pissy like Kristen Wiig’s Aunt Linda character from SNL…

Click here for video

More info:

Wine Spectator: 86 points

Other blogger reviews at Dallas Wine Blog and Wine Belly.

Fun fact from the Bodegas del Rosario website: “in Bullas (Murcia), in the mid 19th century, [Monastrell/Mourvèdre] was also known as Casca del País.”

Price: 10 bucks or less, Tasting Notes

Mourvèdre Monday #17: Carro Tinto 2008

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This wine always catches my eye on the shelf, with it’s orange label and simple design. I’ve had past vintages and like it pretty well, so let’s see what’s up with the 2008.

Carro Tinto 2008

Producer: Bodega Señorio de Barahonda. They put out 10 or 12 different bottlings of Monastrell or Monastrell blends under the Barahonda, Carro and Bellum labels, including two previous Mourvèdre Monday wines: the Barahonda Monastrell 2006 (B-) and the Nabuko 2007 (B). Based on past results, I’ll taste as many of their wines as I can find.

Grapes: 50% Monastrell, 20% Syrah, 20% Tempranillo and 10% Merlot

Appellation: Yecla, (D.O., Spain)

Vineyards: From high-altitude vineyards (2339 feet) with rocky limestone soils.

Winemaking: no oak

Alcohol: 14%

Price: $9 or $10, usually

My tasting notes: Dusty blue and black fruit on the nose with significant earthiness, minerality and barnyard funk. On the palate, the funk goes on and on, with a strong meaty/animal aspect that brings to mind that episode of Man vs. Wild when Bear Grylls snacks on a dead Zebra (I mean that in the best possible way). There are some nice smoke and pepper/spice notes.  The fruit is there, too — blackberry & plum — but it’s not playing the starring role. The wine finishes very dry with a pronounced iron/mineral character that I’m enjoying.

Overall impression: Old World fans will find a lot to like here, while I suspect New World-ers may fear the funk. Give it a good bit of air for best results. I like what it brings to the table for $10. And, while only 50% Monastrell/Mourvèdre, it delivers a lot of that grape’s character, for my palate. B/B-

Update 6/08/2010: This review was written after one evening with the bottle. The next day, I finished the other half of the bottle and it was drinking beautifully on day two. So I’m bumping it to a full B.

Free Association:

More info:

88 points Parker (Jay Miller) and 87 points IWC.

Other blogger reviews: Bottle a Day, Wine Reviews You Can Understand and Wine-Smith

Price: 11-15 bucks, Tasting Notes

Mourvèdre Monday #10: Nabuko 2007

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This is the tenth installment of Mourvèdre Monday. Click here for the other posts in the series.

We return to Spain for this week’s Mourvèdre Monday post. And not only back to Spain, but back to the producer of Week 1’s wine: the Barahonda 06 Monastrell. This is another wine in their lineup – this one blended with Syrah.

Producer: Señorio de Barahonda

Grapes: 50% Monastrell (Mourvèdre), 50% Syrah

Appellation: Yecla (DO, Spain)

Vineyards: High-altitude (2339 feet)

Vintage: 2007

Winemaking: A brief stint (3 months) in French oak

Alcohol: 14%

Price: $15

My tasting notes: On the nose, I get smoky wild berry fruit with aromatic herbs. A bit of cranberry juice cocktail and earthy minerality. It feels alive in the mouth with a prickly acidity, almost like your mouth feels after eating Pop Rocks. It dances across the tongue rather than coating it. The flavors are a bit richer and darker than that would suggest: plummy and chocolatey – almost like a chocolate soda. The green/herbal note from the nose sticks around here as well. On day 2, it’s drinking very nicely. That initial prickly-ness is gone and the wine has smoothed out and feels more “complete”.

Overall impression: Another enjoyable Monastrell – this one a bit more interesting and nuanced than some of the others. Not sure it’s a “No Brainer” like the label says (that’s what the NB stands for in the picture below), but worth checking out. B


Free association:

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fragmented/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

More info:

90 points from Parker: “The 2007 Nabuko is a blend of 50% Monastell and 50% Syrah aged for three months in French oak. Purple-colored, the aromatics feature fragrant blueberries and blackberry. This is followed by a chewy, layered wine with spicy blue and black fruits and mineral notes making an appearance. Long and rich, this tasty, balanced effort can be enjoyed over the next 4-5 years.”

More reviews at Johnston Spissinger Wine Blog, Honolulu Wine Scene and CellarTracker.

Price: 10 bucks or less, Tasting Notes

Oddball Wine of the Week: La Mano Mencía

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This is the second appearance of the Mencía grape here in the Oddball series. The first was the terrific Viña Caneiro 2007 Ribeira Sacra. But this one is from Bierzo, another northwestern region of Spain.

La Mano Mencía Roble 2007 Bierzo

Producer: Vinos de Arganza

Grapes: 100% Mencía

Appellation: Bierzo (DO, Spain)

Vineyards: No info on the bottle or website, but if you watch the video below the vines are head-trained and look to be pretty old.

Vintage: 2007

Winemaking: 3 months in “secondhand” American oak barrels

Alcohol: 12.5%

Price: $9-10

My tasting notes: The nose on this wine is swimming with rocky, gravely minerality. The red fruit aromas are mouthwateringly juicy with a slight herbal edge (thyme, perhaps). In the mouth it’s medium weight with blueberry, cherry and other red fruit flavors. The tannins are pretty firm and the first glass comes across as pretty austere. It smoothes out by the second glass and I’m enjoying it much more.

Overall impression: Certainly not up to the standard of the Viña Caneiro 2007 Ribeira Sacra, but it’s much cheaper and easier to find. If Mencía is a new grape to you and you want to try one, this wouldn’t be a bad option. Be sure to give it a good couple of hours of air. B-

Free association:

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/floato/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

More info:

An interesting video from Axial Wines (the importer) about the wine.

90 points – Jay Miller in The Wine Advocate

Other reviews at CellarTracker (mean: 80, median: 83), Cork’d (avg: 89), BeerAndWineReviews.net (85) and originalverkorkt (heck if I know – it’s in German!).

Price: 10 bucks or less, Tasting Notes

Mourvedre Monday #8: Castaño Monastrell 2007 Rosado

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A recent post over at Benito’s Wine Reviews got me thinking about rosé. I need a reminder every once in a while. Almost every time I drink one, I think, “Why don’t I drink this more often?” Then I go back to my reds and whites. So, as I was contemplating what to pull from the cellar for this week’s Mourvedre Monday post, I thought of this rosé (or, more properly, rosado – though they use the term rosé on the back label). I’ve been on the hunt for the red Monastrell from Castaño, which has been recommended to me by several folks following Mourvedre Mondays. I haven’t found it yet in my local shops, but I did come across their rosé, which is how this ended up in my cellar to begin with. I haven’t done a rosé yet in this series, so it seemed like good timing. Let’s check it out.

Producer: Bodegas Castaño – a major producer in Yecla, owning about 10% of the vineyard land in the DO

Grapes: 90% Monastrell, 10% Garnacha

Appellation: Yecla (DO, Spain)

Vineyards: Limestone soils. 25-30 year old vines.

Vintage: 2007

Winemaking: Stainless steel aging (based on 08 info; no info on website about 07)

Alcohol: 13%

Price: Around $10

My tasting notes: The color is quite red for a nominally pink wine. Kinda like the color of red wine in TV sitcoms. (You ever notice that?) It smells like it’s going to be a sweet wine — kind of a burnt sugary thing — but with some good juicy strawberry and raspberry aromas. Also some Slim Jim on the nose (Oh Yeeeeah!). Good weight in the mouth and some strawberry and apple skin notes, but some slightly oxidized flavors as well. Pretty awkward overall.

Overall impression: Not an especially pleasurable beverage. You can do way better than this. C-

Free association: The kind of rosé an undiscerning Stormtrooper might order.

Photo credit: Greg Easton Photography (via Flickr). Be sure to check out the whole Adventures in Stormtrooping series and his other toy collections (prepare to lose an hour or two of your life!).

More info:

Imported by Eric Solomon.

Reviews at CellarTracker (avg: 81) and another at Chicago Vines Society, who liked it more than me.

Price: 10 bucks or less, Tasting Notes

Mourvèdre Monday #6: Wrongo Dongo 2008

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I intended to avoid Spain for this week’s Mourvèdre Monday. Three of the first 5 installments have been Spanish Monastrells and I wanted more variety. I had my sights set on opening either a Bandol or an Aussie bottle in my cellar. But I’ve been sick since last Monday and I’m just getting back to relative normalcy. I decided to open the cheapest bottle of Mourvèdre I have on hand, in case my palate wasn’t quite ready (it was fine). I know very little about this bottle other than it’s from the same producer as the Juan Gil 2007 I liked quite a bit. Oh, and it cost me less than six bucks so what did I have to lose? Next week I’ll do my best to bring something serious to the party.

Producer: Bodegas Juan Gil

Grapes: 100% Monastrell

Appellation: Jumilla (DO, Spain)

Vineyards: no info

Vintage: 2008

Winemaking: no info

Alcohol: 15%

Price: I paid $5.71 at Spec’s in Austin.

My tasting notes:  On the nose it kind of pings around from Robitussin to earth & black pepper to blueberry-scented magic marker. On the palate it’s smooth-textured with dried cherry and blackberry fruit, a mineral component that makes me think of a wharf and a bit of a chocolate note at the end. Like many of the other reviews linked below, I get the black tea astringency. It’s kinda of like an unsweetened blackberry-flavored tea.

Overall impression: I don’t know that I’m really digging this one. If you’re looking for super-cheap bottles that aren’t bad, give this one a try. But for me, I’d rather drink something else. C

Free association:

More info:

88 points Jay Miller for Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate.

Other reviews at Palate Match, Fermented Reviews, The Small Wine Review, CellarTracker (avg. 81 pts) and Cork’d.

Anybody know the story behind the name? If so, please share.