Jujube Ole Imports Wine Dinner

Jujube Restaraunt Chapel Hill NC
Tasted Thursday, December 8, 2011 by WineKnurd with 429 views

Introduction

5 course wine dinner featuring Spanish wines from Ole Imports, presented by Rich Haynes from Dionysus distributing.

Flight 1 (5 Notes)

2009 Naveran Cava Brut 88 Points

Spain, Cava

1st wine of the Jujube Ole Imports Wine Dinner, served with a crispy celery and walnut salad with kumquat and black vinegar. Light apple notes with touches of yeast and hay and healthy dose of dry stone minerality. Obviously dry as a Brut, and not a great amount of citrus, which actually added a nice dry contrast to the acidity of the kumquats and the vinegar. The dryness also kept the walnuts from finishing with a bitter aftertaste. Truly a surprising transformation with and without the Cava. As a wine, this Cava gets an overall B+ with the $13.99 price tag (B+ Cava quality / B+ value) but an absolute A for the pairing!

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2010 Cortijo Rioja Blanco 85 Points

Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

2nd wine of the Jujube Ole Imports wine dinner, served with "cha gio" pork and shrimp spring rolls rolled in escarole with apple-daikon salad. Peaches, apples, and minerals backed by hints of apple skin and cream. Light in body and acidity, it is what it is- light, simple and easy drinking. Pair it with a nice salad, a mild cheese like Manchego, or delicately flavored shrimp spring rolls with thin slices of apple and diakon. The pairing warrants an A+, the wine overall a B (B on viura quality / B on value at $11.49).

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2010 Cortijo Rioja 84 Points

Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

3rd wine of the Jujube Ole Imports wine dinner, paired with butternut squash and roasted chanterelle congee with plum-scallion brown butter (very much like a risotto). Nose and palate fruit forward with jammy berry and pie filling flavors with hints of spice and some vanilla. Not much oak, definitely not new oak, with lighter body and weaker structure than expected of Temperanillo from Rioja. Overall the wine rates a B (B- for its simplicity / B on value at $11.49) and a B- for the pairing (the dish, while very very good, was too rich for this wine and masked the fruit).

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2010 Bodegas La Cartuja Priorat 91 Points

Spain, Catalunya, Priorat

4th wine of the Jujube Ole Imports wine dinner, paired with roasted duck with Sichuan pepper jus and crispy parsnip cake. Plenty of raspberries, sour berries, and cream from the oak vanilla followed by spices, hints of bitter green kale, and leathery tannins. It took a bit of time for the wine to open up, which is still young with a good dose of tannins, but enough acid is peeking through at this point to make it drinkable with some glass swirling, a vinturi, or a quick decant. I really enjoyed this wine, which is estate grown, and normally I am not impressed with many of the efforts coming out of the Priorat. It was very clear that balance was the goal of the winemaker, as the wine was listed as 14% abv with no hint of heat or burn at all. Loved the pairing with the duck, especially the flavorful skin, which cut the tannins but still kept the nice berry flavor on the palate. A special mention for the parsnip cake, which had the texture of cornbread, cleansing the palate of both the fatty duck and the astringent tannins, leaving just a nice light parsnip flavor. A- Overall for the wine (A- quality / A- value at $16.99) but another solid A for the pairing!

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2009 Bodegas Vizcarra Ramos Ribera del Duero 90 Points

Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

5th and final wine of the Jujube Ole Imports wine dinner, paired with braised beef with wakame, shallots, and a potato-carrot hash. This wine really needed a decant before serving, and even though the bottles had been opened and let sit before the dinner began, it was still tight when served. After some swirling in glass the wine revealed an earthy nose of tobacco, pepper, and leather with some wild berries and cranberries hidden underneath. Dark fruits and sour cranberries can be found on the palate, but the wine is still very much dominated by thick, leathery tannins at this point. Enter the lightly seasoned and very tender braised beef, which really helped to cut the tannins and reveal the fruit and acid in the wine. Heavy tannic structure seems primarily oak driven so aging might not be a tremendous help; food is the best thing for this wine which is in no way a detriment to its drinkability. Overall I rate the wine a B+ (B+ on RDD style / B on value for the $20.49 price tag) but the braised beef pairing warrants an A-.

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