Spanish Wine Tasting and Dinner at BDV
1855 and Bistro du Vin
Tasted September 13, 2013 by Derek Darth Taster with 394 views
Introduction
Tasting of 2 Reservas and 2 Crianzas followed by a bottle of Brunello di Montalcino Riserva. Ended off with dinner at Bistro du Vin. Excellent food and paired with 2 elegantly aged Reds.
Flight 1 - Spanish Wine Tasting (4 notes)
2 Rioja Riservas V.S. 2 Crianzas from Ribera del Duero.
2008 Bodegas Muga Rioja Gran Reserva was the crowd favourite. However, M and I differed and felt that 2008 Condado de Haza Ribera del Duero Crianza was the best.
Fragrant perfumed nose. Sweetness continues onto entry and palate. Ripe, plush, decadent berries bursting with flavour in the mouth. Fresh and fruit-forward, may further integrate in another 2 years.
Flight 2 - Enjoying the comfort wine (1 note)
Back to my favourite taste of Italian Brunello.
Nose opened up with pleasant earthy dark fruits. Sweet entry, with blackberries, leather, and the typical sour cherries on the palate. All textbook Brunello flavours. Big wine. Nice dusty chewy tannins which I suspect would not have been so approachable had we not instructed to decant 4 hours prior. Long finish. This Brunello Riserva would do well with many more years on it.
Flight 3 - Dinner at Bistro du Vin (2 notes)
Opened with an interesting sparkling Chenin Blanc from the Loire Valley. I unfortunately forgot to take down the details of that. Fragrant nose distinctly different from champagne.
I had Coq Au Vin. Yummy.
Both aged reds were great. A generous treat from Mr H.
Smooth and sweet on the entry and elegant on the palate. Oak just nice. Some minerality. Overall softness, but some slight spice on the mid-palate made it interesting. Overall, very good balance. Medium finish. In a good place, but may possibly get better with a few more years.
I loved the refined nose of liquorice and mint. Oak mild.
Tannins soft and nicely settled. Sour plums, raisins, ripe berries on the palate. Excellent mouth-feel, with the flavours seemingly hitting all corners of the mouth. Medium finish. Elegance was amazing. I am glad another buddy has 2 bottles of this.
Closing
Wonderful wine night. Spanish wine FOR THE WIN. The 1987 Rioja Reserva totally defeated everything else that came before it.