Spanish Dinner

Denver, CO
Tasted Saturday, November 22, 2008 by thomaskeil with 664 views

Introduction

Dinner with Nancy, Mark, Megan, Holger, Shelley, Ana and Antonio with a Spanish theme. Mark and I opened all the reds about 2 hours before serving to check if they were flawed or if they would benefit from decanting. To my surprise, all but two seemed close to ‘ready’ upon opening, so no decanter.

Flight 1 (1 Note)

The plan was to serve La Gitana manzanilla with olives, Spanish cheeses, jamon and chorizo but Mark brought along a champagne magnum and the sherry stayed in the frig.

  • 1993 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée 94 Points

    France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

    From magnum -- what a treat. Golden yellow. Super complex with both a sense of sweet baked fruit and steely minerality. The ginger spiced butterscotch component that ‘lives’ in the golden color really makes this truly something special. Thanks Mark!

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Flight 2 (2 Notes)

The whites were served with two dishes; scrambled eggs with asparagus followed by a Galician boiled potato, crab, pimento, olive oil recipe.

Flight 3 (2 Notes)

Fabada beans and morcilla.

  • 1994 Bodegas Alejandro Fernández Ribera del Duero Janus Gran Reserva Pesquera 92 Points

    Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

    Opened 2 hours. Elected not to decant, despite detecting some brett on opening (which mostly disapated). This was an interesting comparator to the Abadia which was more focused. The Janus was darker, more fruit forward and had more complexity, but this complexity had a very rustic flair (leather, earth, ‘shrooms) and the tannins were more gritty. Still, with this dish it had a wonderful, captivating charm and the bottle was rapidly drained.

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  • 1996 Abadia Retuerta Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y León Pago Negralada 92 Points

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

    On opening this had a prominent vegetal and almost a reductive character which we hoped would resolve, so into the decanter for a couple of hours. The vegetal character did completely go away and the wine fleshed out nicely. Gorgeous medium-light fruit lifted by bright acidity, soft tannins. Some complexity.

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Flight 4 (3 Notes)

Roast Chicken Iroulegay.

  • 1995 Artadi Rioja Pagos Viejos 92 Points

    Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alavesa, Rioja

    Opened 2-3 hours and not decanted. Hard to see the family relationship to the El Pison at all. This is a muscular wine with forward bold fruit that has tobacco and peppery spices leaping at you on the nose and coating your palate. This has a structure of resolving tannins and decent acidity. Nice wine, but along side the El Pison and the Unico, this bottle was only about one-third consumed. A shame as this is a nice wine.

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  • 1994 Artadi Rioja Viña el Pisón 95 Points

    Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alavesa, Rioja

    Opened 2-3 hours and not decanted. An amazing wine. Like the Unico this had a remarkable elegance that is hard to describe. There were fresh cherries and a broadly painted mostly soft minerality that was so expressive that you almost wanted to ‘listen’ to it. Focused and almost linear tannins. In a cliché (but accurate) moment, Mark said this was Burgundian. Totally captivating.

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  • 1975 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único 95 Points

    Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

    Opened for 2-3 hours before serving. Elected not to decant. Mature but fresh. Very delineated and complex, powerful but elegant from fresh-tasting cherry fruit to mineral finish.

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Flight 5 (2 Notes)

Slow roasted beef tenderloin with Cabrales

  • 1992 Clos Erasmus Priorat 94 Points

    Spain, Catalunya, Priorat

    Opened 3 hours, not decanted. Another amazing wine that seemed quite young. Bright garnet color, minimal slight rim bricking. A rush of Grenache aromas - fruit, spice, flowers, garrique and earth. Medium weight fruit that was both rich and light on its feet. Fine tannins and good acidity. Complex palate and long interesting aftertaste.

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  • 2001 Clos Mogador Priorat 93 Points

    Spain, Catalunya, Priorat

    Decanted 3 hours. Dark reddish violet. Cab-based cassis, peppery spicy cherries, espresso, vanilla, some earth. Hugely structured wine with lots of everything.

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Flight 6 (1 Note)

Flourless chocolate cake

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