Spain and Portugal

2033 Brandywine
Tasted Saturday, August 1, 2009 by jrobs7777 with 787 views

Introduction

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

Flight 1 - Non-Blind Starters (2 Notes)

Flight 2 - Non-Blind Light Whites (3 Notes)

Flight 3 - Blind Dry Portuguese Reds (3 Notes)

Flight 4 - Blind Spanish Grenache and Blends (3 Notes)

The Mogador was a disappointment but the Alto Moncayo was a nice surprise.

  • 2006 Bodegas Alto Moncayo Garnacha Campo de Borja 91 Points

    Spain, Aragón, Campo de Borja

    Quality Grenache. Complex nose. Really wowed by the nose. Spicy pepper, herbs, good red fruit, some licorice, tar and cedar. Vanilla and sweet spice. The palate was good -- nice and round, coating with good fruit. Find finish. I thought there were some touches of heat that detracted a bit overall. The nose is really the star of the show here. From a value standpoint, this stood out tonight.

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  • 1999 Torres Conca de Barberà Grans Muralles 87 Points

    Spain, Catalunya, Tarragona, Conca de Barberà

    Hard to place nose. Earthy manure on the nose. Some tree bark as wll? Defintely the oldest of the wines in this flight. Lacking concentration. Straight ahead and fruit. Nice, but nothing more.

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  • 2003 Clos Mogador Priorat 87 Points

    Spain, Catalunya, Priorat

    The score is based on potential as this really did not show well tonight and may be a bad spot right now. Brett? Stewed jammy fruit. Hard to parse through and figure out what we have - just a hodge podge of fruit. Some spice and oak. Had high hopes for this and it fell a little short.

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Flight 5 - Blind "Bargain" Tempranillo (3 Notes)

The Alonso del Yerro was the star here and it should age well for the next 5-10. Still very young.

  • 2004 Bodegas y Viñedos Montecastro Ribera del Duero Montecastro y Llanahermosa Flawed

    Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

    I'm going to go with the FLAW as it is hard to score this. After tasting and making some observations, we were advised that one bottle in the flight may have suffered heat damage, so that put this in context. Overwhelming stewed fruit. Brett? Hard to score this. Palate better than nose, as there was some structure. Blue fruit and vanilla? If I was going to give it a score, it would be in 84-87 range.

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  • 2004 Bodegas LAN Rioja Edición Limitada 88 Points

    Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

    Very vegetal. Green pepper. Earth. Jammy fruit. More fruit and less veggie would make this better. Some heat. We enjoyed the 05 and this is typically a nice bottle for the price. I did not love this in the blind format as compared with the other wines in the flight.

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  • 2006 Alonso del Yerro Ribera del Duero 91 Points

    Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

    Showed really well tonight. Exceptional value at under $30. Big and round. Nice coating tannins. Very nice nose of hot pepper, black pepper, red fruit and some secondary herb and earth notes. Sharp acidity on the palate with the fruits in harmony. A touch of heat creeps in at the finish, which knocks it down a peg, but this is one to keep an eye on. 91+

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Flight 6 - Blind White Rioja (3 Notes)

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.

Flight 7 - Blind High End Tempranillo (3 Notes)

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.

  • 1996 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único 94 Points

    Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

    Very solid effort and contender for wine of the night. Very complex notes. Herbs, tar, cedar, leather but a surprising amount of brighter fruit. The palate was subtle and complex. Coating tannins, suggesting many more years of life for this. Good blue and red fruit with herbs. Very good bordering on great finish. Impressive effort. Worth $$? That's another discussion.

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  • 2004 Bodega Numanthia Toro Numanthia 92 Points

    Spain, Castilla y León, Toro

    Very good. Deep dense. Cherry coke, chocolate, herbs and dark fruit. A bit tannic and tough to get a handle on, but that is to be expected. Should soften over time. Patience will be rewarded. Solid finish.

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  • 2005 Viñedos de Páganos Rioja La Nieta 89 Points

    Spain, La Rioja, Rioja

    Third out of three in the blind "higher end" Tempranillo flight. Stewed fruit. Big and dense but was like a lot of loud music -- it's hard to appreciate whether there is any subtlely. This was a perfectly good wine. Good fruit. Coats the palate well with a nice finish. But it was so big and oaky and dense that it was hard to appreciate what, if anything was going on underneath. Way overpriced.

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Flight 8 - Blind New World Spanish Reds (3 Notes)

I enjoyed these wines, especially the El Nido as it had more to is than just huge dollops of fruit and oak.

  • 2004 Bodegas El Nido Jumilla El Nido 93 Points

    Spain, Murcia, Jumilla

    Sweet spice, red fruit and great concentration. Dark opaque color. This was not a fruit bomb, as I expected it to be. It was not subtle, either, but offered a good blend of spicy fruit with a very nice finish.

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  • 2005 Bodegas y Viñedos de Murcia Jumilla Pico Madama 88 Points

    Spain, Murcia, Jumilla

    I was not a huge fan of this. As I did not take thorough notes on everything, I definitely fell short here. It was clearly third in this group. Big fruity nose. Plain on the palate with flaws in the finish. Maybe in a bad spot right now, but it lacked the complexity I look for.

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  • 2005 Bodegas El Nido Jumilla Clio 88 Points

    Spain, Murcia, Jumilla

    This was a bit of a step down from its bigger sibling. Not so much in fruit and concetration, but this lacked some of the subtlety and introduced more heat than the El Nido, especially on the finish. Good but clearly a step down.

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Flight 9 - Non-blind Vintage Port (3 Notes)

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.

  • 1977 Fonseca Porto Vintage 94 Points

    Portugal, Douro, Porto

    Surprising fresh and light. I expected a denser, chewy port for a wine over 30 years old. But it was not. Exhibited secondary notes, but a lot of brighter red fruit. Very interesting. Not overly sweet. Good sweet spice, red fruit, chocolate and maybe some secondary toffee. This had a very nice finish. Very enjoyable.

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  • 1994 Taylor (Fladgate) Porto Vintage 95 Points

    Portugal, Douro, Porto

    After the 77 Fonseca, this was big change. Big dense blue fruit. Opaque purple color. A complete change from the lighter 77. Side by side was a very interesting comparison. This was dense, just loaded with blue fruits and berries. The conentration was tremendous. I did not take complete notes and neglected to comment on the finish. Probably the WOTN for me, but its close.

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  • 2000 Graham Porto Vintage 90 Points

    Portugal, Douro, Porto

    This is young. Still too young. A bit difficult to get ahold of. Heavy. Mocha, coffee, chocolate. Dense and rich. Not the style I particularly enjoy.

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