Quinta Vale D. Maria LBV 2003

It feels like winter has come early in Melbourne this year, the mornings are bellow 5 degrees and the nights are cold. Not that its a bad thing, its perfect port weather.

This LBV is made from Tinta Amarela, Rufete, Tinta Barroca, Tinta Roriz, Touriga Francesa, Touriga Nacional, and Sousão. The fruit is crushed by trodding in the traditional lagares. Then into old woodern vats for 4 years until it’s bottled. This wine is not filtered and will have a bit of a crust. So decant if that bothers you. This gets a bit better if you leave it open for a few days too.

Lovely nose of walnut and clove with some plum and cherry pie, notes of fine spirit. Smooth with some grippy tannins in the mouth, restrained sweetness, good integration of fruit and spirit and a very long finish. The palate is all class: sweet plums and blackberry, pepper and cinnamon, liquorice and chinotto. A good way to kick off the port drinking season without blowing the budget. 91 Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $36 (375ml) Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.valedonamaria.com

Telmo Rodriguez Altos de Lanzaga 2005

I think most people would agree that Telmo Rodriguez’s wines are modern in style, so it’s surprising to see that he uses many old school techniques like big concrete fermenters, and big old wooden vats (with a bit of modern know how).

This is Telmo’s top wine from Rioja and he pulls out all the stops here. He has 10 acres of vines in a number of plot that is located up in north east of Rioja around the village of Lanciego for this wine. The vineyards are managed along Biodynamic lines, with an average vine age of 70 years and very low crop levels (at times under 400 Kg/acre). And while you could describe Telmo’s wines as modern, he uses some old school techniques too. The grapes used here are trodden in big concrete lagres, then fermentation occurs in big, open wooden vats.

One of the criticisms I’ve had about this wine in the past is the amount of high toast french oak is used. The fruit is up to that kind of treatment, and from what I’ve seen of older vintages the wood does integrate after a couple of years in the cellar. It’s not unusual for this level of oak in modern Rioja (or any where else in the world for that matter), but personally I’d like to see it turned down a notch or two. If bags of new oak and young, exceptional fruit blows your skirt up, you’ll love this. Otherwise, give it 2-5 years in the cellar before cracking a bottle.

Deep and dark red in colour, with some purple towards the rim. Plenty of heady wood aromas to start with: chocolate, espresso, vanilla bean and freshly cut wood. Underneath, bright fresh fruit comes through: dark cherry, plum and blue berry. Its very tight and young but shows a lot of promise. Plenty of texture in the mouth and the fruit is well done, restrained and just the right level of intensity and concentration. Dark cherry, plum, cola, mocha coffee, cinnamon and plenty of earthy minerals. The finish is long with a brush of soft fruit tannins. This will come out of the cellar after 5 years looking very smart. 93+ Pts

Source: The Spanish Acquisition RRP: $170 Closure: Conventional Cork

Ramon Bilbao Edicion Limitada 2004

I had a look at the 2003 version of this wine just a couple of weeks ago and said that I was looking forward to trying the 04. Someone must be reading, as it turned up in a box last week.

The 03 was a selction of 604 barrels, the 04 is 704. I’m assuming that 2004 was a more widely successful year in Finca Valpierre, as an extra 22,500l of this wine was produced. The 04 is much more open and accessable right now, I think the quality here will out shine the 03, but they are both excellent wines.

The nose shows earthy, musky fruit right from the start: cherry and plum, coco, anise and light cinnamon. There is some nice wood towards in the back stalls. Plenty of rustic appeal in the mouth: lots of light, soft tannins that build texture leaving you with a fuzzy mouth feel that gets cleaned off to give the impression of excellent balance. Cherry and mulberry pie in the mouth, adding some more anise and pepper. Rich, but very savoury. Elegant, but a bit rustic. For the price, I think this seriously over delivers. 93 Pts.

Source: Broadway Liquor Distributors Price: $35 Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.bodegasramonbilbao.es

Other Vintages: 2003

Telmo Rodriguez Lanzaga 2005

These mid-level wines from Telmo Rodriguez are where the real value is. You can open them now and enjoy them, but they are priced so that you can buy a few and watch them develop over 10 years. I see the joven wines as a drink now proposition and the top level are definite cellar dwellers for the first 3-5 years.

And the 05s are a buy for me, I think they are the best set of wines that Telmo has released since I’ve been tasting them. Lanzaga from Rioja is my favourite in 05, which is a change from my usual attraction to M2 de Matallana.

The nose is instantly attractive with earthy cherry and mulberry, sage and thyme, and liquorice. There is some deft wood handling, with touches of vanilla, chocolate and coffee in the background. It slips into the mouth, silky tannins, the perfect level of acid and a big ol’ finish. Tight and young on the palate, but it shows enough to get me excited: cherry cola, a bit of musky plum, chocolate, and liquorice finished off by some hot cinnamon and a mineral note. Very drinkable now, but it will cellar well for at least 10 years. The pick of Telmo’s mid range in 2005. 93+ Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition RRP: $55 Closure: Conventional Cork

Other vintages: 2003, 2004

Martin Codax 2006

Just when I though I’d tasted just about every Spanish Albariño in Australia, two more pop onto my desk. That’s not quite true, I know there are at least two others I haven’t seen, but thats just semantics. This is another very good wine in the $30 price bracket, I don’t think anyone could complain about the range of Spanish whites that are available in this price bracket these days.

The wine is named after one of Galicia’s oldest known minstrels, and to celebrate this guy’s work you get some sheet music on the (synthetic) cork. Its bass clef on this bottle. I gave it a go on the ol’ Fender Jazz, but it’s not really my thing. The wine is tho.

An elegant nose of peach and pear with some jasmine and waxy lemon peel. Its feels quite delicate and lightly textured in the mouth, but look a bit deeper and you’ll find there is a strong acid backbone. I’d say that this is made in a fairly straight forward way that lets the fruit do all the talking, i.e. without out any lees stirring etc. White peach, lime and apple with a touch of passion fruit. A tidy finish with some chalky minerals. Far too easy to drink, there should be a warning on the label. 90 Pts

Bodegas Luis Cañas Graciano 2003

Graciano is an odd little beast, there are about 55 different names for it in Spain, and due to it’s natural low cropping and high acid character it has always been a bit player that’s blended with Tempranillo. Researchers at UC Davis believe that it is genetically very similar to Monastrell (or vice versa), but this doesn’t look like monastrell to me. So when the chance to have a look at straight a Graciano from Rioja came up I jump on it. This wine is made from very old vine material right up north in Rioja Alvesa, its fermented and then aged in spanking new french oak for 18 months.

The aromas jump out of the glass here: some stewed fruit, plums, dark cherry and blueberry with some creamy mocha coffee, spice, toasty oak and old tobacco pipe. Powerfully structured and modern in style, it shows fine grained fruit tannins with plenty of acid. More dark fruits on the palate, mainly plum and dark cherry with some game notes and pepper. Its quite perfumed and exotic, intriguing. Its a hard one to score or give any idea on aging, but it looks like its build for the long hall. 93 Pts.

Mantel Blanco Verdejo 2006

I’ve been meaning to write this wine up for a while, but the image has been a bit pesky. So, A small promo shot will have to do for now. I gave the Martel Blanco Sauv Blanc a bit of a wrap, but really the star from these guys in the Verdejo. This is a textbook example and comes in at a very reasonable price.

Bright golden hay in colour, with a classic verdejo nose of apples and pears with some fennel bulb and a touch of fresh green peas. Nicely textured with a very subtle bit of sweetness on the mid palate that works with the driving acid. The palate shows apple and lemon, a touch a tropical fruit and finishes off with a long clean finish that shows some bitter sage. I could drink this wine all day on a warm day. 88 Pts.