TNs: Spanish night

Post Reply
User avatar
Michael Malinoski
Posts: 677
Joined: Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:12 pm
Location: Sudbury, MA
Contact:

TNs: Spanish night

Post by Michael Malinoski »

Our regular tasting group got together recently to try some Spanish wines alongside a whole bunch of homemade tapas dishes made by culinary master and host, Andy. There was no decanting ahead of time and none of the wines were tasted blind. It ended up being a fairly diverse set of wines that folks brought along, and we did our best to formulate some meaningful flights.

Flight One:

N.V. El Xamfra Cava Mercat Brut Nature. This sparkler delivers a crisp bouquet of blanched almonds, mica minerality, green apple, wild herbs and light smoke. It’s bright-toned in the mouth, with bitter grapefruit, green melon, and pear flavors. It’s a tad narrow for my tastes, but it’s dry and refreshing, with a smoky, mineral-tinged finish.

2011 Bodegas La Cana Albariño Rías Baixas. Here one finds a nose of waxy lemon rind to go with scents of lanolin, yellow apple, seashells and smoke. In the mouth, it’s round and fleshy, with direct flavors of grapefruit, yellow apple and pear to go with some more piquant edgings on the finish. It’s youthful but there’s some decent generosity to it that I like.

Flight Two:

1996 Bodegas Ismael Arroyo Ribera del Duero Crianza Val Sotillo. This wine gives off a lovely, old-fashioned bouquet, with all sorts of desiccated red flower, forest undergrowth, pounded leather, chocolate powder, sour cherry, red currant and dried cranberry aromas wafting up beautifully out of the glass. In the mouth, it’s quite spicy and perfumed, with funky leathery flavors of sour cherries and red currants to go with a twinge of caramel starting to creep in. It’s also a bit lighter-bodied at this stage of the game, making me think it’s nearing the end of its drinking window. For now, though, it’s nice and spicy red-fruited with soft edges and very pleasing flavors. I really enjoyed this.

2001 Artazu Navarra Artazuri. I find this wine a bit dour and unfriendly on the nose, with aromas of smoke and dull cranberry and black cherry fruit just not doing much for me. In the mouth, it’s surprisingly smooth-textured and round-bodied, with medium weight and easy flow. However, the fruit feels a bit dirty to me at times, with the plum, blueberry and charred herb flavors never finding any connection with my palate. I was disappointed in this one.

2009 Viña Magaña Navarra Dignus. This blend of 50% Tempranillo, 25% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon features a bold, dense, directly fruity nose of black cherry, blackberry, olive brine, white pepper and herb. In the mouth, it’s loaded up with sweet blackberry and blueberry fruit, mole chocolate, clay and herb flavors that show slightly elevated alcohol levels and a growing swath of tannin as the night goes on. It’s direct and a bit simple right now, so maybe come back in 2-3 years.

2008 Vinyes Domenech Montsant Furvus. This blend of 80% Grenache and 20% Merlot delivers a rather pleasing bouquet of dried red currant, baked cherry, tobacco leaf, jalapeno pepper, leather and horsehide aromas. In the mouth, it’s ripe and rich, with dark berry fruit right up front that feels open, juicy and giving. It finishes with a nice streak of bittersweet chocolate, making for an enjoyable uncomplicated drink.

Flight Three:

2005 Bodegas y Viñedos Heras Cordon Rioja Reserva. This is real nice on the nose--with fine notes of old leather, dried red flowers, dried cherries, tobacco and tomato vine coming across as mellow and old-fashioned in aromatic profile. In the mouth, it feels younger than on the nose—with dark cherry fruit, barrel spices, strident tannin, and lifted acidity combining pretty nicely. It could use a few more years to resolve the tannin, but this is worth stashing away a few bottles of to see how it progresses.

2001 Bodegas Muriel Rioja Gran Reserva. This Rioja is fresh and outgoing on the nose, with fine aromas of suede leather, dried cherry, vanilla, pink peppercorn and background herbal notes. It’s creamy-textured on the palate, with tingly acids and zesty red fruit flavors showing nice lift and brightness. It could maybe use a bit more depth or a richer bottom note, but the overtly spicy red fruit flavors are quite delicious and fun to drink right now.

2003 Bodegas LAN Rioja Edición Limitada. This wine comes across on the nose as thick, smoky and serious but also beautifully sweet and textured—featuring lovely aromas of coffee beans, blackberries, charred oak, vanilla, barbecue sauce, baked cherries and exotic spices. In the mouth, it’s totally seamless, juicy and pure-fruited. It feels softly pliant with plush layers of blueberry, plum and baked cherry flavors flowing easily and generously through to the yielding but gently tannic finish. Although the ridiculously heavy bottle had me in a mood to dislike the wine, it’s actually in a great spot right now and drinking very nicely.

2009 Bodegas Muga Rioja Reserva Selección Especial. This young wine delivers penetrating but dense aromas of high-toned cherry and raspberry fruit, granite, baked clay, oak staves, vanilla and mocha. It follows that up with medium-weighted flavors of dark cherry and black fruit accented by spices and a bit of espresso character. The acidity is tingly and lifting, making for a young but fun-to-drink wine. I’d probably suggest holding off on this to see how it develops, but it’s hardly a mistake to drink and enjoy right now.

Flight Four:

2004 Bodegas y Viñedos Maurodos Toro Viña San Román. I’ve been a fan of the 2001 and 2003 vintages of this wine, and my previous experience with the 2004 about two years ago was quite promising, as well. Coming back to it now, I think it’s still young but really starting to come into its own. It’s an opaque color, with intense inky-dark aromas of creamed blueberry and blackberry fruit, sweet creosote, dark-roasted coffee and chocolate. In the mouth, it’s slippery and slinky, with sexy menthol, baking spice, blackberry and coffee flavors that are powerful and driven, with tannins quietly growing the longer you stay with it. It’s gorgeously-textured, increasingly exotic and destined to just keep on getting better, in my opinion.

2010 Cyan Toro 8 Meses. This wine is super-dark, super-dense, thick and fudgy on the nose, with somewhat monolithic aromas of candied black fruit, dark chocolate paste, wet earth and struck match. In the mouth, it’s thick and woody, pasty-textured, and overly tongue-coating with its flavors of wood, coffee and sweet dark fruit. It feels incredibly primary and in need of at least another 4-5 years in the cellar time before trying again. I don’t have huge confidence it will come around, but it’s definitely not for current drinking, in my opinion.

Flight Five:

2006 La Perla del Priorat Priorat Noster Templari. This is a blend of 60% Grenache, 25% Carignan, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Syrah. It presents an earthy, savory nose loaded up with aromas of grilled herbs, spiced cherries, blueberries, limestone, charcoal, caramel and mocha paste. In the mouth, it is on the extravagantly sweet and luxuriant side of things, with tons of mocha, candied cherry and wild raspberry fruit flavors that are right out front and a bit overpowering at times. It feels too young to drink, to be honest, and my advice would be to wait a while on it.

2013 Bodegas La Cartuja Priorat. This is rather lifted and fresh on the nose, with aromas of red currants, cassis, brownie batter and menthol leaf popping out. It’s tight and zesty, young and coiled in the mouth, with a lot of sharp acidity up front just now. It’s hard to get through that to appreciate the fruit, so again I’d say this is one to wait on before trying again. It’s pretty hard to evaluate just now.


-Michael
User avatar
JimHow
Posts: 20110
Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:49 pm
Location: Lewiston, Maine, United States
Contact:

Re: TNs: Spanish night

Post by JimHow »

I know 2004 is a good year in Spain.
What are some other good vintages in the past decade?
User avatar
Michael Malinoski
Posts: 677
Joined: Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:12 pm
Location: Sudbury, MA
Contact:

Re: TNs: Spanish night

Post by Michael Malinoski »

Jim, I agree regarding 2004. 2001 is another where I've had many fine bottles, along with 1994, esp. Rioja. I don't have a great sense yet for post-2004 vintages, letting most stuff age from 05 forward.

Best,
Michael
User avatar
JimHow
Posts: 20110
Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:49 pm
Location: Lewiston, Maine, United States
Contact:

Re: TNs: Spanish night

Post by JimHow »

Great notes as always, Michael, we gotta get together with the Boston crew at some point in 2015, to celebrate the Pats' inevitable Super Bowl victory.
User avatar
JonnyGusto
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Mar 09, 2015 4:49 pm
Location: United Kingdom
Contact:

Re: TNs: Spanish night

Post by JonnyGusto »

Interesting to read what you have to say about the 2005 Rioja, I have got some 2005 Vina Ardanza set aside and was told by a chap who had tried it already that it was ready for drinking, might reconsider cracking it open this weekend.
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot], Google [Bot], JoelD and 22 guests