Minneapolis Tastes Spain (Unico, Mauro, Janus, Closa Batllet, Clio, Numanthia)

Craig Vanderah arranged for a great local group to meet at Solera in Minneapolis for tapas and some great Spanish wine. Everyone brought at least one bottle and we served these from youngest to oldest. Service was acceptable, although I can't say we clicked with our server. I thought the food was very good, and really paired well with the wines.

These were poured as people arrived. Once everyone was there we quickly moved on to the reds.

• NV Cristalino Cava Brut 85 Points

  Spain, Cava

  Ordered off the restaurant wine list at $19 per bottle. The nose gives an interesting blend of citrus fruit, honey, and almond. The taste is dominated by simple orchard fruit in a sweeter style than I prefer. Decent wine for the price.

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• 2004 Mar de Frades Albariño Rías Baixas 85 Points

  Spain, Galicia, Rías Baixas

  The nose is subdued, giving a nice pear/peach fruit with some minerality. On the palate this is dominated by concentrated fruit in a slightly sweet style with accents of mineral and oak poking through. Flavor coats the palate and lingers nicely on a fairly long finish.

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We decided to pour from oldest to youngest. This proved to be a very good decision. All of these showed very well.

• NV Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único Reserva Especial 1968, 1970 (1990 Release) 94 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

  The color is a full ruby red that is not particularly dense or opaque. No bricking/browing and very pretty in the glass. The nose is an awesome nuanced expression of red cherry with a mushroom/earthy funk. On the palate this is an elegant and restrained wine that is drinking perfectly right now. The taste is dominated by dark cherry and mushroom but there are layers and layers of complexity. This is balanced but has really nice acidity. It is still tannic. The finish is very long. Awesome stuff.

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• 1991 Bodegas Alejandro Fernández Ribera del Duero Janus Gran Reserva Pesquera 92 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

  From magnum. The color is a dark ruby red showing some signs of age and a bit more density than the Vega. The nose is very nice with sour red fruit blended with an appealing earthiness. On the palate this is smooth and sexy. The flavor is mainly red fruit. This has great balance and some refreshing acidity like the Vega. There is some tannin on the finish, but I felt the wine seemed like it was at peak. The fruit is clearly fading and there is not much structure from the attack through mid-palate. They balance for now but I wouldn't want to lose much more fruit. Great length on the finish. A very nice wine.

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• 1995 Condado de Haza Ribera del Duero Alenza Gran Reserva 93 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

  An interesting wine. The nose was extremely interesting -- bordering on controversial. The dominate aroma was iron/rust, with red fruit, licorice, mineral and other funky elements. It really grew on me. The iron/rust taste carried through to the taste but fit in nicely with the red fruit and earthiness. Good balance. A little shorter length on the finish than the previous wines. Good stuff.

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• 1996 Bodegas Mauro Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y León Vendimia Seleccionada 94 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y León

  The color is a dark ruby red with purple hues. Very youthful. The nose is a classy yet reserved blend of black fruit, mushroom/earth, and floral notes. On the palate this gives concentrated liquor-like red and black fruits with earth, smoke, mineral, and well integrated oak. This is perfectly balanced. Still very tannic. Long finish. This is a great wine that is just now entering an early drinking window. Should continue to improve for many more years.

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The corked bottle of Emilio Moro Valderramiro was very despressing. I have had this twice before and it is an amazing wine. Luckily this was my back-up bottle, so we don't have to start a five page thread about the clod who brought the corked wine to the offline.

• 2000 Perelada Empordà Gran Claustro 91 Points

  Spain, Catalunya, Empordà

  The color is a deep red/black. I didn't catch the blend, but it's got to be predominately cab. The nose is a stern and classic blend of dark fruit, lead pencil, smoke, and mineral with just a touch of funkiness. On the palate this gives dark fruit and is very structured and aromatically compact. This will definately improve with time in the cellar, but I wonder how interesting it will be when fully mature. If secondary flavors develop the score will go up.

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• 2000 Bodegas AAlto Ribera del Duero AAlto 92 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

  Another nice bottle of wine. The nose is expressive giving red fruit with hints of oak/vanilla. On the palate this is medium weigth with good fruit concentration. I get a bit of a drop in flavor at mid-palate, but the attack and finish are both very solid. Well balanced. Oak is well integrated at this point and is not distracting at all. Still somewhat tannic. Very nice.

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• 2001 Celler Marc Ripoll Sans Priorat Closa Batllet 94 Points

  Spain, Catalunya, Priorat

  Dark red -- almost black -- in color. The nose is very expressive and classy with intense notes of red fruit, smoke, mineral, oak, and violet. On the palate this tastes extremely youthful with jazzy red fruit, well integrated oak, and a subtle earthiness. Perfectly balanced. Extremely tannic. Good length on the finish. This is still extremely young but showed well. Should have an excellent future.

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• 2002 Bodegas Pintia Toro Pintia 90 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Toro

  The nose was an interesting but hardly compelling blend of dark fruit, coffee, aspirin, mineral and bread dough. Once I fixated on the bread dough taste it was a little hard to enjoy. On the palate this was medium weight and well balanced, but seemed a little thinner than other wines served tonight. Decent finish. Not one of my favorites.

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• 2004 Alvaro Palacios Priorat Les Terrasses 90 Points

  Spain, Catalunya, Priorat

  The nose is big and primary giving mainly red fruit, oak, and vanilla at this stage. In the mouth this is chunky and simple giving red fruit and oak. This is fruit dominated with very little structure but it does finish with plenty of tannin. With a few years in the bottle this should develop into an acceptable wine but nothing special.

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• 2001 Bodegas Emilio Moro Ribera del Duero Malleolus de Valderramiro Flawed

  Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

  Damn. Corked.

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This proved to be a tough flight for many of us. The style of these wines is a bit over the top to begin witt. Tasting these at such a young age proved to be a double whammy. I did my best to try to determine which could develop with additional age and which will never be my style. I sure we will get lots of disagreement on these.

• 2000 Bodega Numanthia Toro Numanthia 90 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Toro

  On the nose this gives red fruit, oak, smoke, mushroom and lilac in a big, unrefined style. On the palate this shows big soft red fruit and oak with very little discernable structure. Still very tannic. Time in bottle has probably helped this considerably, but I'm not sure it's ever going to improve.

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• 2003 Bodega Numanthia Toro Numanthia 88 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Toro

  On the nose this shows a big dose of VA/lacquer, that is very distracting, mixed with plenty of black fruit and oak. On the palate this gives big soft fruit with no structure, tons of oak, and a big tannic bite. My least favorite red wine of the night.

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• 2004 Bodega Numanthia Toro Numanthia 92 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Toro

  The nose is similar to the 2000 Numanthia, but is more controlled despite its youth. Still offering big fruit, smoke, and oak, but an attractive earthiness is lurking underneath. Soft unstructured fruit is still dominate on the palate, but there is a healthy does of mineral, earth, oak, and vanilla to add some interest. If I were buying Numanthia I would go with the 2004 and hope that extended cellaring would allow this to develop into something interesting.

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• 2004 Bodegas El Nido Jumilla Clio 93 Points

  Spain, Murcia, Jumilla

  I was a bit palate fatigued at this point but I thought this showed great potential. The nose was by far the most interesting of the last seven wines, giving black fruit, smoke, leather/tobacco and oak. On the palate this has big black fruit with oak/vanilla and at least a bit of structure. Very primary. Decent length on the finish. I would say this has the potential to be very interesting with extended cellaring.

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• 2003 Bodegas El Nido Jumilla Clio 90 Points

  Spain, Murcia, Jumilla

  The nose had a slight VA with huge red fruit and oak and no secondary aromas of any kind. The taste was almost a strawberry fruit in a very ripe style with tons of oak. This is my third time tasting this and I've got to say I've liked it less and less each time.

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My WOTN was the Closa Batllet -- a wine I'd never heard of until last night. The Mauro Vendimia Seleccionada and Unico Reserva Especial Lot 1990 were very close.

I am very interested to hear the thoughts of others that attended, because I was at one end of the table and missed out completely on conversation at the other end of the table.