Spanish Gems from World Class Producers

Rather cheesily titled event, but this was a very enjoyable, rather leisurely paced tasting at Caveau with Alex and Fiona. Some really fine wines here.

• 1999 Finca Villacreces Ribera del Duero Crianza 88 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

  This has been well received by professional tasters and I was looking for good QPR, but ended up rather disappointed. Not a bad wine, but not a good one either. Nine years from the vintage, the wine still had a pretty dark core colour, with its edges just shading garnet. Nose was rather pleasantly savoury, showing umami, mushroom, soy and game characteristics, with plummy fruit and a lilttle peppery-spiced bit blended in somewhere. Very bright on the palate, high acid, more Rioja than Ribera del Duero to my taste - cherry tomato-ish in its fresh, slightly sourish tang. Some prune flavours nestled amongst the acid and rather chalky, teeth-coating tannins. It finished short and woody with a hint of strange hint of nail varnish. This is another wine that really needs food to show itself well, the plain crackers that we had just would not do. I did not fine this wine unplesant, but it was the most one-dimensional and uninteresting of all the wines on show.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2000 Alvaro Palacios Priorat L'Ermita 94 Points

  Spain, Catalunya, Priorat

  The most expensive wine at the tasting, this is another one that I have rated somewhat on potential. It was really far too young to drink, but I was certainly not going to turn it down when it was poured! It was a very dark inky purple inflected with ruby tones, so I was expecting a super-extracted wine, but this really showed great class and elegance. It had an exciting, racy nose. Rich and opulent, stuffed full of ripe petite fruits noir, very blackberry-ish, but at the same time also showing an intriguing gout du terroir - it was brambly, earthy, layered with flavour and oh so very interesting. The dense palate was shut down tight at first, and needed quite a bit of coaxing before I could get beyond the big-ness and alcohol that initially hit me and get to the underlying dark fruits, which were brooding quietly underneath. Still, it was clear from the outset that the wine had enormous weight and intensity just bubbling beneath the surface. It was sweet at first, but started showing some umami tones in time. Very good structure and balance, with slightly chalky but unobstrusive tannins. Incredible finish - long, intense, plush, with persistent dark fruit paired with dry, woody hints. Here's your iron fist in a velvet glove. Boy this wine needs time for all the oddly sticking out parts to integrate, but it is going to be a beauty.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

I appreciated the chance to taste a range of Artadi wines, and came out rather impressed. Clearly marked by their cooler terroir, the wines displayed very clean, pure fruit characteristics marked with bright, at times, tomato-ish acid and fine structure and balance. Quality is rather high thoughout.

• 1999 Artadi Rioja Pagos Viejos 89 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alavesa, Rioja

  This wine was starting to show garnet tones on its rim. There was an initial wave of glycerin from the alcohol on the nose, which was otherwise rather muted. Some swirling later, some flavours of meat, dark cherry, plums and an undertow of wood and dried earth emerged shyly. With more air, the cherry notes started coming to the fore, along with savoury umami scents. Really fresh acid on the palate - something that has marked most of the Atardi wines I have tasted, reflective perhaps of the high altitude and the cold Pyrenees wind in the Northern region of Rioja. Fresh prune flavours showed themselves here, supported by the high acidity and firm tannins. This had a nice sense of balance to it, but seemed seemed rather backward and un-evolved for a 1999, with the flavours rather locked up and a strange hollowness showing in the mid-palate. Otherwise, the finish was okay, with mineral and wood tones. Not a bad wine at all, but not one that raised my interest too much.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2000 Artadi Rioja Pagos Viejos 90 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alavesa, Rioja

  I preferred this to the 1999. Dark red centre, slightly browned at the sides. Nose showed a flash of glycerin, and then umami, bramble, earth and a little meat. Decent, but nowhere near as inviting as the more expensive Artadi's tasted. The palate showed the very familiar high. tomato-ish acid and good, concentrated dark cherry flavours wed with a more savoury under-currant. Okay finish with touches of pepper. A simple wine no doubt, with an awkward bit of heat here and there. But, on the whole, I found this better structured and balanced than the 1999, and also more tamed and civilised in the way the acid and tannins hit the mouth. Somehow, this seemed more rounded and elegant, even though it had some power. Not bad.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2000 Viñedos Lacalle y Laorden Rioja Viña el Pisón 93 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alavesa, Rioja

  Another wine that I bought after doing a little QPR analysis. QPR may sound strange for a SGD150+ wine, but I found this really good. Red ruby core with a brickish rim. This wine had a really nice, complex, almost savoury bouquet - thorn bush, cigar leaf and smoke, hints of boiled cabbage (sounds bad, but it was actually quite nice) and gun-flinty mineral. Really bright on the palate, very Artadi indeed, with high acid and rounded tannins. Really poised and refined, but I found that it also had good intensity in its red cherry / berry flavours and a nice flowery top-note. A savoury, umami undertone just started peeking out at the end of my glass. The finish wound down with a slilght wash of heat. Otherwise, this was a terrific wine. I would drink now or hold for another couple of years and wait for the secondary flavours to emerge more.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 1999 Artadi Rioja Grandes Añadas 92 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alavesa, Rioja

  This wine is produced by Artadi from grapes gown on 70-100 year old vines, and only made in good vintages. It certainly divided opinions amongst those of us who tasted it. Alexis bought a bottle and we popped it in the hospital where we visited William (who had broken his arm), so I had a second, more leisurely look at the wine after the tasting. Very solid effort, well-made, and very good, but it somehow did not get my pulse racing. Nose showed some glycerin, matched with heat on the palate, but this subsided after time. There was a funky, muddy tone, but that blew off as well. What was left was a sweetish nose, very rich, with lots of dark fruit and interesting secondary scents of bramble, pepper, smoke and flint. Rather full and sweet on the palate as well, lots of black fruit, like plums and prunes, with good intensity and power. It also showed secondary flavours of slightly bitter ash and tobacco. This had bright acid, brighter than the 2000 that I tasted alongside at any rate and soft, round tannins. Again, rather-tomato-ish at first, but the growing sweetness balanced it off nicely. I thought it was less balanced than the 2000 when I first tasted it, but changed my mind later. The rather ashen finish was decent, but shorter than the 2000.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2000 Artadi Rioja Grandes Añadas 93 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alavesa, Rioja

  I preferred this when tasted next to the more expensive 1999, but everyone else seemed to prefer the later. The wine had a surprisingly young hue - deep, dark purple at the core. Really nice nose. Sweeter and more rounded than the 1999, it showed a hint of glycerin, but lots of pleasant little red and black fruits, intermingled with a flowery scents. After time, a pruney accent and some pepper notes came to the fore. Like the 1999, there was some heat on the palate, but I found less of it here. Sweet, plummy notes dominated, with dry woody scents adding interest. Very rich and nicely balanced with bright acid and firmish underlying tannins. Much longer finish than the 1999 here, very long and satisfying. It is certainly less developed and more primary than the 1999 at this point, but with a gentler and slightly finer-boned structure. I would be interested to see how these two stack-up against each other five years down the road.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

How I love Vega Sicilia. Surprise, surprise, it was the excellent Unico that stood out from the crowd as usual.

• 2004 Bodegas Pintia Toro Pintia 92 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Toro

  Rating this one on potential - but I liked it enough to get a bottle. A deep, inky purple wine, this was almost painfully young and tight. The nose opened with acrylic, glycerin and varnish scents, layered onto sandlewood tones with hints of cloves and exotic spice. Thankfully, there was lots of underlying richness, in the form of sweet fruits and a meaty bass note. Enough to actually make the nose pretty pleasant in spite of the slightly iffy start. Very tough on the palate, almost overwhelmingly tannic - hard and woody and very firm and unyielding, almost angular at this point. There was quite a flush of heat in the attack as well. Yet for all that, there was the nice round acidity that is very reminiscent of the Vega Sicilia family of wines, and really good underlying fruit weight and sweetness which subtly filled the mouth at the edges of the huge structure. I detected plums, smoky, ashen fringes and a slight bitter-sweet linger at the finish which showed decent length and more of that ultra-dryness. This needs lots of time, but it should come really good when the wine tones down and the hard edges smoothen and integrate. This certainly needs food as well! I am thinking rare red meat, Spanish roasts, or preserved ham / sausages.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2003 Bodegas y Viñedos Alión Ribera del Duero 91 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

  The most modern of the Vega Sicilia wines - I am not sure whether this is a consequence of the wine-making, the vintage, or both. Very dark, inky purple. Ripe, plush nose, showing cassis fruit, cooked cherries and pepper tones. This translated into the palate, which was as ripe as would be expected from the colour and nose, and full of cassis and pepper tones. Surprisingly for 2003, this showed very fresh acid, almost a little sour and full of bite, which gave the wine a pleasant balance. Longish finish, very smooth, with just a hint of heat. Well-made wine, but in a really friendly, ripe, very forward style.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 1997 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Valbuena 5° 94 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

  From a magnum, this was absolutely lovely. Even better than the much pricier Reserva Especial that came a couple of glasses after this. The wine had taken on a garnet robe. Beautifuly nose. Wild and brambly at points, yet oh so refined, with fine biscuity and dry wood tones undergirding rich dark fruit and a layer of savoury umami scents. There was just a touch of glycerin that blew off quickly. The palate was at once sweet, and fresh and clean. Lots of pure dark cherry fruit wrapped in a really lithe, and super-balanced structure with fine tannins and round acid. My mouth is watering even thinking about the beautiful texture of the wine - smooth, refined, aristocratic in its fineness. Finish was yummy and savoury but, like the other Valbuena that we had, a tad shortish. No complains though - a great wine.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2002 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Valbuena 5° 92 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

  Very nice indeed! Black-red with the rim going slightly drown. Savoury nose, earth mushrooms, oak and bramble intermingled with ripe dark cherries. Lovely. The palate showed a nice flintiness, lots of dark cherry, wood and smoke wrapped in a package of tight tannins. Great balance, with really fresh acidity. Finish was okay, but I would expect it to be a little longer given the pedigree of the wine. This was a really good wine in its own right, but I think it was overshadowed by the much finer Valbuena 1997 that we tasted alongside.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 1996 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único 96 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

  Awesomely good. Even though this was surprisingly forward, it is still far too young to drink, but I have no doubt it will be even more brilliant a good decade down the road. Dark brownish red, almost bovril like colour. This had a super layered and complex nose - umami, earth, meat, cigar smoke, plums, cooked figs, wafting creme brulee accents. Absolutely gorgeous, very deep, dark and inviting. My written notes has a "wow!" The palate was at once subtle and refined, but ever so rich and plush, with layers and layers of pure and concentrated cherries and raspberries riding on a superb structure of fresh, round acid and super, super fine tannins. Fantastic balance. As would be expected from an Unico, a fantastic finish rounded the wine off, showing kopiko coffee sweet flavours and lingering layers of dark fruit that just went on and on. As time when by, the wine put on even more weight. It was full, round, rich and very complete. Another "wow". Here we have another great example of an iron fist in a velvet glove. Excellent. This will be a knock-out when it reaches its prime.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• NV Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único Reserva Especial 93 Points

  Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

  The bottle I tried was a blend of the 1985, 1991 and 1996 vintages, released in 1997. A good wine, but completely left in the dust by the profound Unico 1996. While shading garnet at the edges, this still had a dark inky core. The nose was more muted than the absolutely singing bouquet on the 1996. Attractive in its own right though, this showed plush meat and dark fruit scents, wrapped in smoke and coconutty oak. It opened up with time to show more deep, dark cherries and a meatier undertone. Rather more subtle than the Unico, but very classy. Very smooth on the palate, the wine goes down super-easily, with a glide of rather surprisngly fine tannins. Still, it seemed a bit sharper and more angular next to the power and superb balance and elegance of the Unico. Very nice finish, with mocha, nuts, beautiful smokiness and a touch of game. In fairness, this too is very young. The weight and intensity is there in abundance, but all rather tightly wound up at the moment.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

As an interesting footnote, we met Alexis and Min at the tasting and hopped down to Mount Elizabeth Hospital to visit William who had broken his arm skating. Brought some wine there, he had some champagne and strawberries stashed away - and we had ourselved a lttle get-well-soon party.

• 1996 Duval-Leroy Champagne Brut Millésimé 91 Points

  France, Champagne

  Pale gold, with very fine, gentle bead. Savoury nose, full of yeasty and bread notes, with rather subtle white fruit. Very dry and minerally on the palate, with more of the yeast and bread and a touch of lemon. Finished very dry and flinty. Unsurprisingly, this went really well with strawberries.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No