Archive for April, 2008
The Spanish Aquisition 2005 Premiums Tasting - Spanish
I attended The Spanish Aquisition 2005 Premiums Tasting on Monday and tasted a range of wines from the 2005 vintage in Spain and Portugal. And what a show it was, these 2005s are looking excellent and there is something here for everyone.
Here are some quick notes on the Spanish wines tasted, as usual no scores for this quick sip, slurp and spit type event. I'll post the Portuguese stuff tomorrow.
Capanes Lasandal 2005 - Raspberry, a bit of good wood and earthy/hot rock notes. Quite tight in the mouth with some fluffy tannins, some cherry, plum and raspberry. Really like this.
Capanes Cabrida 2005 - Similar in stye to Lasandal, but a bit more serious. Showing herbs and spice with a bit of sars and chunky tannins. Very good.
Descendientes de José Palacios 'San Martin' single vineyard 2005 - Whoa, this is some serious stuff. Sweet cherry and mulberry with some blue fruits, quite musky and rich on the nose. Quite explosive on the palate with musk sticks blueberry, a touch of rasin and cherry cola. Powerful and plenty of tannins. Excellent booze.
Palacios Remondo 'La Montesa' 2005 - This has opened up nicely, not looking as hardcore as my last look. Very good.
Palacios Remondo 'Propiedad' 2005 - Again looking a lot more open than my last look.
Telmo Rodriguez Lanzaga 2005 - Nicey nice on the nose, layers of aroma starting off with earthy cherry and mulberry then some herbs and liqourice followed by some nice wood. Very compelling.
Telmo Rodriguez Altos de Lanzaga 2005 - Vanilla, chocolate, esspresso, lots of high toast oak notes. Showing a lot of wood at the moment, with some great fruit underneath.
Telmo Rodriguez Pago la Jara 2005 - This is looking very good, the oak treatment is excellent and shows classic Toro characters of cola, dark cherry, big soft tannins and plenty of meaty, juby fruit.
Telmo Rodriguez M2 de Matallana 2005 - Looks a bit closed on the nose, earthy cherry and mulberry with some herbs. The palate is quite spicy with fine boned tannins, very long finish. Quite tight at the moment. Needs some time to sort it self out, but will be great.
Telmo Rodriguez Matallana 2005 - Spicey punes on the nose with a little nutmeg but otherwise similar to the M2. A bit raisiny on the palate with a big lick of minerals. Looks like its still in shipping shock a little.
Cillar de Silos Crianza 2005 - Class all the way, silky smooth with some animal notes, ripe cherry and currents. Very happy with this one.
Cillar de Silos Torresilo 2005 - as above, looking great and will only get better in the cellar.
Flor de Pingus - A bit introspective today, but still showing bucket loads of promise.
Protos Crianza 2003
So, continuing down the line from Protos is this Crianza. It's a fairly classic crianza: fermented in stainless steel vats followed up by 12 months in American oak, then a year in bottle. Again, its a fairly traditional wine: you won't find a big, highly extracted thing here. Its all about the savoury fruit, good oak treatment, texture and balance. Don't worry that this is from the hot 2003 vintage, I couldn't find any baked or heat associated characters here.
A smokey, earthy nose with some nice mulberry and dark cherry fruit and a dollop of barnyard. A touch of caramel oak completes the picture. Very smooth and textured in the mouth, the soft fruit tannins and expansive mouthfeel are cleaned up by a charge of acid towards the end. Pure cherry and mulberry with some minerals and sage leaves on the palate. The finish is long and shows an iron rich earth kind of character. Ready to go now, but could do 8-10 years of hard time in a dark place. 91 Pts.
Source: Broadway Liquor Distributors Price: $55 Closure: Conventional Cork
Protos Reserva 2001
This is the first of three wines I have from this producer, and I though why not start at the top. Protos is a fairly traditional producer, they do use a bit of french oak but otherwise the wines come across as classic old school Ribera del Duero. They are one of the oldest bodegas around and hold 400 hectares of vines in the valley, at the same time buying in 50% of their grapes from 274 growers. Its all kind of mindboggling big. And usually you'd think that would affect quality, but all three wines are of a very high standard.
A bit of wood influence apears on the nose first, some nutmeg and creamy mocha followed up by some blackcurrent, mulberry and dark cherry with a touch of rosemary, thyme and a little barnyard. In the mouth it's medium boddied and shows nice and clean with lush tannins and a moderately long finish. Juicy fruit on the palate: more earthy blackcurrent with some plum and minerals. Really well done and if you're into the traditional stuff you're in for a treat. 92 Pts.
Source: Broadway Liquor Distributors Price: $90 Closure: Conventional Cork
Clos Mogador 2005
I've had a couple of requests to open a bottle of this wine, so I ducked into Boccaccio Cellars on Sunday and picked up a bottle. I went home decanted for an hour or so while I cooked up a couple of good steaks. It looked a bit odd to start with and really not pleasant to drink, so I had a glass and put the rest away for the next night. So you get two notes for the price of one here, one on the first night and on on the second. There may be a third note after tonight. This is a very intriguing wine, but not much fun at this stage of its life and something for the wine obsessed rather than hedonistic drinking. I'd love to try another bottle each year for the next 10 years to see where it goes, but given the price rise (about double the price of the 2001, an extra $50 on the 04) I'll only be buying a few.
Night 1: A very odd nose with vanilla pancake mix, barnyard, soot, aniseed powder, raspberry with some sawdust. With more air some notes of roast meats, sage and cheese. Lets just say it's extremely complex and confused at this stage. Not particularly nice in the mouth, angular with big, blocky tannins and confronting acidity. On the palate it shows sarsaparilla, dark fruits with mocha, plenty of cinnamon and clove. Very complex, for many this would be overly complex. A wine for the S&M fetishist, there is some great pleasure to be had here, but you have to be willing to put up with the pain too. Perhaps cellaring will sort it out, however there are some extreme balance issues. 91+ Pts.
Night 2: Looking better, but still a odd on the nose: varnish and coconut with barnyard, but the fruit has arrived with beautiful raspberry and cherry with some woody mocha and pipe tobacco notes. The usual soot and minerals is in there as well. The mouth feel has come up and shows excellent balance with soft fruit tannins and a shot of acid down the centre. Very powerful on the palate with rocks and minerals with cherry, plum and raspberry, and mocha. Not as spicy as last night, which is good. A very intense, complex and intellectual wine, with plenty of time in the cellar needed to show its best. Leave for 5 years before attemping. 94+ Pts.
Source: Boccaccio Cellars RRP: $190 Closure: Conventional Cork
Ramon Bilbao Edicion Limitada 2003
Another quick note, time seems to be getting away from me at the moment but I have a load of bottles to write up plus a couple of tastings this week.
So this is the best 604 barrells of Tempranillo from a single vineyard, Finca Valpierre. Bunch selection is used to find the best clusters and then fermented in oak vats. In to French and American oak for 14 months and aged in bottle for another 10 months.
Aromas of Vanilla coffee, chocolate, a touch of pencil shavings with some earthy dark cherry and a bit of prune. Its young at the moment, but opens up a bit with some time in the decanter, showing some coco like tannins and good structure. On the palate there is plenty to like: cola, dark cherry, blackberry, an Irishman's pipe bag, and peper. The fruit is a little baked, but it's balanced and copes with it well. Well done for the vintage, I'll be interested to see the 04. 92 Pts.
Source: Broadway Liquor Distributors Price: $35 Closure: Conventional Cork
Ramon Bilbao Crianza 2004
I'm always on the lookout for a quality Rioja at a good price, and one seems to have landed in my lap here. Ramon Bilbao are a fairly traditional producer in Rioja, they also have a more modern high expression offering but the focus is on the traditional wines. This one is 100% Tempranillo from Rioja Alta, Haro and surounds to be specific. Following fermentation it lives in American oak for 14 months and another 8 months in bottle before being released.
Notes of mocha and vanilla on the nose with cherry, mulberry and cola. Open and ready to go from the start. Plenty fluffy tannins provide texture, while there is good balance and a long finish, if a bit drying. A clean palate of cherry and mulberry fruit, a touch of balsamic, minerals and bay leaf. A bargain for drinking this winter, but it could do 5 years in the cellar if you can keep your hands off it. 90 Pts.
Source: Broadway Liquor Distributors Price: $25 Closure: Conventional Cork
Vilarnau Gran Reserva Brut 2003
Just a quick note on this one. Gran Reserva Cava is one of those styles that we don't see a lot of here in Australia but they are well worth hunting down if you like more complicity in your sparkling wine. You get more aged characters (of course) but also great freshness and complexity when done right.
Aromas of Granny Smith apples, guava, toasty bready, hay and a note of herbs and anise. Creamy and broad in the mouth with a hit of sweetness in the middle followed by spike of acid to keep things focused. On the palate you'll find some cidery apples, aniseed, and guava. A good long finish that shows a minerally aspect. More of a food style I think, but very enjoyable on its own. 91 Pts.
Source: Broadway Liquor Distributors Price: $35 Closure: Conventional Cork
Flor de Pingus 2005
Ahhh back in Ribera del Duero. I haven’t had a bottle of wine from this region for ages it seems. Don’t get me wrong, I love the wines from all the other regions, but Ribera del Duero just seems to push a few extra buttons. Its the fruit profile, the texture, the tannins give and the overall structure that sucks me in. And when its a wine of this calibre it bloody well should. Unfortunately, you’ll probably struggle to find a bottle of it, it sells out in minutes.
I know I keep going on about it, but again the 05 looks more balanced to me. I’d love to see them both in 10 years, but alas I have none in the cellar. I’ll have to scour the wine auctions in a couple of years.
Classic modern Ribera nose earthy, smokey mulberry, blackberry, blackcurrant with an added touch of plum. A few shakes of sage, a slurp of cola and a shot of espresso and anise. You need to time this right if you’re going to see anything, it shuts up shop after a couple of hours in the decanter. Almost medium bodied with some raspy tannins until it builds with more air. The tannins open up soft and silky giving the wine a velvet mouthfeel. The acid keeps the structure in the mouth and its all too easy to drink. It shows great intensity in the mouth, juicy mulberry, black current and blueberry with minerally sarsaparilla and spice. An uber long finish, which is great because I don’t want it to end. But after a good performance for a couple of hours, the shows over. So drink now if you want to see what all the fuss is about, but I’d give it 5 year in the cellar to sort it self out, then drink over the following 15. 96+ Pts.
Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $175 Closure: Conventional Cork
Vilarnau Brut Nature NV
Brut Nature is idiosyncratic wine style, the Spanish seem to love it, but the rest of the world seems to think: oohh too much acid and not enough fruit for me. Personally, it's a style I really like. Its bone dry, fresh, shows tight fruit and acid when it's done right. And it's cracking on a hot day. It kind of shoots straight down your throat leaving some lovely apples and minerals on your palate.
A fine nose of crisp apples, chalk and minerals.Focused with tight, driving acid that eases off for a creamy sherberty finish. On the palate there is some more tart apples with some lemon and more minerals. It might not sound like much, but the real appeal here is the purity, refeshment value and pointed nature of the wine. Its also very easy to down a glass, so you're constantly checking to see if there's any left in the bottle. 91 Pts.
Source: Broadway Liquor Distributors Price: $35 Closure: Conventional Cork
Numanthia 2005
I drank this after getting home on Wednesday night, about 4 hours later than normal. A storm had taken out most of the public transport in Melbourne, as well as my fence! So something serious to drink was in order. I must say I prefer the style of the 05 to the 04, its more refined and less dark and brooding. The 05 is still very punchy, and by no means a light weight though. I quickly organised some for the cellar after tasting this one, I passed on the 04.
If you didn't know, the Eguren family sold this property to LMVH a couple of months ago. However, the current winemaking team are staying on for this year's vintage so we have a couple more vintages to look forward to under the current team. Not being the kind of people to kick back and blow the $25 million Euros on speedboats and parties with Paris Hilton , they've already got another Toro property in development and a couple of new ventures/improvements in their home base of Rioja.
A beautiful nose of ceadery oak, mocha, violets and handful of berries: blueberry, blackberry dark cherry and black current. Very intense and complex in the mouth, well structured with powdery tannins, plenty of grip and excellent balance. It almost feels light in on your tongue, but its flavour packed. Blackberry, dark cherry and mulberry fruit with added complexity from some mocha, earthy herbs, minerals and a touch of pepper. A luxurious finish. Outstanding as a drink now proposition, but will age gracefully until 2020. 96+ Pts.
Source: Toro/Woods Wines Price: Around $125 Closure: Conventional Cork
Web: www.eguren.com
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