2033 Brandywine
Tasted Saturday, August 1, 2009 by jrobs7777 with 787 views
Good introduction to Spain and Portugal, with wines across the price spectrum. We featured a variety of cuisine (and cheeses) from Spain/Portugal. My verdict was that the sweet spot is in the $20-50 range. While there are good and great wines at the higher end, the wines were more hit and miss for my palate
The Mogador was a disappointment but the Alto Moncayo was a nice surprise.
The Alonso del Yerro was the star here and it should age well for the next 5-10. Still very young.
This was an interesting exercise as we tasted through the R. Lopez de Heredia line. It was easy to identify the wines in the blind format based on color. I liked these more than most but I thought the 89 is drinking very well and is a better value then the 81.
The group consensus was that the Unico was the dry wine of the night. There were a few who backed other wines, but the Unico definitely had the most votes. It's a stunning wine with great complexity concentration and finish, but the Toro which followed held up well. The La Nieta was overshadowed, but it is a very nice bottle. On balance, my take is that these wines are on the high side for my tastest. That said, I'll drink the Unico if it is given to me -- I'm just not sure I'd buy it.
I enjoyed these wines, especially the El Nido as it had more to is than just huge dollops of fruit and oak.
Some stunning wines in here. I was a bigger fan of the 94 Taylor. I appreciated the Fonseca and how young it still is, but for my taste the Taylor was the WOTN.
2002 Llopart Cava Brut Cava Leopardi Brut Reserva 86 Points
Spain, Cava
Perfectly fine example of cava. A little on the bland side, but refreshing minerality with some floral notes. A touch of nuttiness and acidity.
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NV Hartley & Gibson's Manzanilla 75 Points
Spain, Andalucía, Manzanilla de Sanlúcar de Barrameda
This was bad. I enjoyed the nose a bit. Some salinity and nuttiness. But it was virtually undrinkable as a wine, resembling soapy dish water.
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