Saturday Afternoon/Evening at Fernando's
Queens, NY
Tasted February 23, 2008 by dougsmith with 518 views
Introduction
Grey skies and half-melted snow were a great inducement to spend the late afternoon and early evening indoors at Fernando's place with Mikhail, his parents and Sveta, and Bob Fyke and his wife. Fernando and Elisa laid out a real feast for us all. Delicious empanadas, tortilla de papa, cold salads and dessert. Potluck cheeses as well were delicious. With a warm fire in the fireplace, and great company like this, who needs more?
Flight 1 (8 notes)
The wines were really very good, although the Haut Batailley seemed a bit weedy towards the end of the meal. I am an increasing fan of the wines of Carlos Falcó, Marqués de Griñón. With a few years on them, they seem to effortlessly cross the boundaries between modern and older styled wine, showing real aromatic complexity. While they are perforce big wines (Toledo, Spain is not northern France), they aren't overpowering. I only wish they were better represented in this country. Distribution may be improving, but my searches on this side of the pond still turn up a very modest selection in stores.
Red
1997 La Spinona (Pietro Berutti) Barbera d'Alba Vigna Qualin
Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Barbera d'Alba
Medium ruby/garnet color. Alluring nose of dry mulling spice, leather and dusty red cherry. Really comes across as a Sangiovese rather than a Barbera. On the palate it has racy acidity with resolved tannins and a bright, tart cherry flavor. Definitely a food wine this, and one that calls for pasta with red sauce. I did not feel that it was over the hill, but definitely one to drink up.
Red
1997 Paolo Scavino Barbera d'Alba
Italy, Piedmont, Alba, Barbera d'Alba
Deep ruby color. Somewhat light nose of spice, plum and black cherry fruit, and tobacco leaf. Full bodied on the palate but a little flat with some dusty tannins at the back end. Definitely comes across as a Barbera in a modern style, and probably could use a few more years yet to fully resolve.
Red
1994 Château Haut-Batailley
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
I'd remembered this differently from my TN, so retasted it later in the evening and marked it down somewhat. Deep ruby color, nose of roasted tomato, spice and tobacco, with an acetone topnote that became more pronounced with time. Lactic on the palate with ripe tannins and a touch of red cherry. The fruit on this is pretty thinned out now. Good and bad elements.
Red
2000 Château Laplagnotte-Bellevue
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Deep ruby color. Nose of coffee and ripe tomato, with sweet blackberries on the palate and fine, still youthful tannins. I would give this a few more years.
Red
1997 Marqués de Griñón Dominio de Valdepusa Eméritus
Spain, Castilla-La Mancha, Dominio de Valdepusa
Deep ruby color. Lovely nose of tobacco leaf, blackberry liquor, plums and dusty spice, with a touch of a lactic note on the finish. On the palate it is full bodied with resolved tannins with good acidity, flavors of ripe black cherry, and a very long finish. The bottle claims 13% abv. which would be quite surprising for the region. Further, although there is no noticeable alcohol, this definitely comes across as a big wine in a modern style. I still can't believe how difficult Carlos Falcó's wines are to find in the US. My WOTN.
Red
2003 Domaine du Vieux Lazaret Châteauneuf-du-Pape
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Medium ruby color. Big nose of ripe raspberry syrup with floral elements and a touch of walnut oil and earthiness. On the palate it is very nice up to the finish, whereupon it turns a touch bitter and falls off. Lots of fine tannins as well; may be a touch overextracted or at least need a few more years to resolve. Some noted excessive alcohol on this, but I did not.
White - Sweet/Dessert
N.V. ETKO Centurion
Cyprus, Commandaria
Medium brown color. Nose reminds me of a Madeira or an off-dry Sherry; sweet caramel, toffee, mulling spice, a touch of raisin. Full bodied and silky on the palate, sweet but not cloying, with flavors of dates, walnuts and caramel. Not overpowering by any means.
Closing
Thanks again to Fernando and Elisa for hosting this lovely event. It had definitely been way too long since the last.
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