TNs: Spanish night

[Michael Malinoski]

I was happy to join Ed, Adam and 3 other members of Ed’s regular tasting group at Troquet for a little blind tasting of Spanish wines a few weeks back. As always, the food and service were great. As it worked out, we ended up more or less with flights of Ribera, Priorat and Rioja.

1985 Bodegas Alejandro Fernández Ribera del Duero Tinto Pesquera Crianza. There’s a very pretty nose to this wine, full of soft aromas of tobacco, suede leather, shaved balsa wood, horsehide and fireplace ash to go with a lovely sweet core of cherry paste and cassis fruit. It exudes Old World goodness, but with a sexy, musky edge to it that I like a lot. And later on, it begins to pull in additional notes of roast coffee just to add to the mellow complexity. In the mouth, it is shows off a faded red flower petal and incense inner mouth perfume that complements the medium-weighted, gentle and resolved red fruit flavors quite nicely. It is totally ready to drink right now, showing effortless balance with its gentle acids. Still, it hangs in there all night long with no problem whatsoever, so while I would drink it now, some short-term cellaring can probably still be eked out. My and the group’s WOTN.

1999 Bodegas y Vinedos Valderiz Ribera del Duero Tomas Esteban. This is a much darker color and considerably more dark and dense on the nose—which features corporeal aromas of pen ink, dried blood, black leather, dark incense and roasted espresso bean. Also, it is a little heady with elevated alcohol at times and the raw oak notes seem to grow and grow with time. It just seems young and disjointed to me. In the mouth, though, it is super-creamy, almost velvety-textured, and full of melted chocolate, mocha paste, espresso, black currant and blackberry jam flavors that present just a huge mouthful of wine, to be sure. The tannins are fine-grained but abundant and the vanillin and oak spices start to coat the tongue after a while—making for a rich and thick mid-palate followed by a dry, woody and intensely tannic and slightly alcoholic finish. There’s a lot of stuffing here, but it seems rather out of synch just now and in need of many years of cellaring.

2001 Bodegas del Jaro Ribera del Duero Sed de Cana. This wine is also on the dark side aromatically, but more savory and earthy in tone—with spiced plums, blueberries, pomegranate juice, menthol and shaved cedar notes leading the way. In the mouth, it is lush and fruity, but also savory and finely tangy with lively acidity. It is actually quite juicy, with a nicely rounded feel that shows richness without too much weight. I think it is still rather young, but it is more classically proportioned.

2003 Clos Mogador Priorat. The nose here is absolutely lovely—with a creamy feel to the aromas of black currant, cigar ash, jalapeno pepper, leather, spice and mocha paste. It is full-flavored in the mouth, and also finely-spiced—with excellent balance between the dense blackberry and black currant fruit and the dark earth tones running beneath. Over time, a sweeter, more red-fruited core starts to well up and there may be a little alcoholic spike at the very end, but there is simply wonderful length and persistence allied to charm and richness here. It finishes juicy and tangy, drawing one back for more. It is a complete wine, really, and should be even better in 5-7 years. My #2 wine of the night.

2005 Celler Vall Llach Priorat Embruix. This is definitely the sweetest-smelling wine on the table, absolutely chock-a-block with very forward and confectionary aromas of blue and black fruit, pixie stick powder and a little bit of smoke in the background. In the mouth, it is again very sweet in tone—with rather forward flavors of blueberry, boysenberry, vanilla and mocha on a super-creamy and layered texturing. It is languid, lush and decadent, with a big open-knit feel to it. It approaches being over-done and probably steps over that line at times, but I’d be curious to revisit it in 3 or 4 years’ time.

1994 Bodegas Muga Rioja Reserva. I like the bouquet of this wine a whole lot, with its lively purple berry and dried red cherry fruit aromas, its dry earth and foresty undergrowth notes, and its supporting accents of green pepper and tobacco leaf. In the mouth, it is wonderfully pure red berry-fruited, medium-weighted and finely acidic. Some leafy qualities and toasted spice accents complete the picture and flow beautifully to the juicy berry-laden finish. Overall, it is just really easy to drink and in a good spot right now. My #3 wine of the night.

1994 Senorio de San Vicente Tempranillo Rioja San Vicente. This wine has a nose of cassis, raspberry, leather, balsa wood, bacon fat, green pepper, foresty leaves, earth and spice that are starting to show some nice secondary nuances. In the mouth, it is sweet, smooth, lithe and slinky, with a wiry, ropy sort of feel to it. It has a lasting spiciness I like to go with the core flavors of cassis, cherry, vanilla, leather and earth. The tannins and acidity on the finish could stand to be a bit better integrated, but this is largely a fun, tasty and enjoyable wine.

2001 C.V.N.E. Rioja Vina Real Gran Reserva. Here we find a very plush, engagingly sexy set of aromas on the nose, including scents of green cedar, sweet incense, road tar, black cherries and blackberries. It has a slightly modern feel to it, with soft oak influence, but otherwise a fun and exotic richness I enjoy. In the mouth, it is rather larger-scaled, with a more boisterous feel to it than the nose might suggest. It has a substantial and broad-shouldered flavor profile and stucture to it, with solid density of spicy flavor and a glyceral, slippery feel that slides across the palate with ease and leaves a fine, lasting, sexified impression. Some drying tannins and tangy acids remind you it is definitely on the young side, but I do see this as being in its early drinking window.

Sweet wine (not served blind):

1997 Costers del Siurana Priorat Dolc de L’Obac. Served from 375 ml bottle. This features a gorgeous set of creamy-rich yet somehow classy aromatics that start with plush baked cherries, caramel and tobacco leaf and end with an intriguingly raw note of animal fur. In the mouth, it is so very smooth, with oodles of sweet kirsch, cherry paste, quince paste, raspberry syrup, caramel and chocolate flavors offset again by a little sliver of foxiness that actually works really well here. The texture is plush and giving and the sweetness is nicely offset by solid structure and lively acidity at the tail end. It is really a unique and delicious dessert unto itself.


-Michael

[AlexR]

Interesting that the 85 Pesquerea Crianza should outshine the 2003 Clos Mogador Priorat.
I wonder how much the extra bottle age had to do with it?

Furthermore, the price differtial between those wines is very great.
Can you give me an idea of what that might be in the States, please?

TIA,
Alex R.

[Tom In DC]

Based on my experience, Pesquera could do no wrong in the 1980's. These were very good on release and any time I've pulled one since.

A bottle of the '86 Pesquera Crianza (Reserva?) was a nearly unanimous "wine of the flight" in a blind flight during the BWE 1986 retrospective that Ian organized in NYC a few years ago. It was poured alongside a 1986 Chateau Montelena and 1986 Petrus!

[Ramon_NYC]

A bottle of the '86 Pesquera Crianza (Reserva?) was a nearly unanimous "wine of the flight" in a blind flight during the BWE 1986 retrospective that Ian organized in NYC a few years ago. It was poured alongside a 1986 Chateau Montelena and 1986 Petrus!

Good memory Tom! While I recall the '86 Petrus (only the 3rd that I've drank) and even thought that it wasn't a Bordeaux, it didn't occur to me until now that that '86 Pesquera handily won that flight.
Problem that I've found with older Pesquera nowadays is the uneven variation that tended mostly to the negative when these wines get to the older age.

[DavidG]

That '86 tasting prompted me to buy a few Pesquera. Really showed well that night.