Archive for September, 2008
Finca Vieja Crianza 2003
Who would have thought that Hawthorn would have won the grand final? Hawks supporters I guess. I had my money on Gelong, but what I would I know about footy? You should see my supercoach team, I would have been better off picking blokes that had a surname starting with B. Anyway, I do know that watching the game is a great time to get stuck into a few wines and this bottle was next on the chopping block.
Pleno Tempranillo 2007
One of the things I love about wine is there is always different every vintage. I had a look of the 06 of the this a while ago and it was fresh and full of fruit. This 2007 is edition is similar, but it shows a green note that seems to be typical of most regions in northern Spain.
Finca Vieja Tempranillo 2007
I ran into this wine at Bar Lourinha a couple of weeks ago, the name wasn’t familiar so I thought I’d give it a go. A couple of days later a box of samples turned up. Excellent. Its a gutsy number from La Mancha thats well priced. 100% Tempranillo in a Joven style from what I can tell. It’s also under screwcap, which I’m starting to see a lot of…
Primitivo Quiles Raspay Reserva 2002
This is a classic case of ‘you should never judge a wine by it’s label’. I was introduced to this little number at a Spanish Acquisition tasting and I initially had my doubts about the packaging, but after tasting the wine and having a good fondle of the bottle, I love it. The Spanish flag ribbon over the top of the bottle and the old school label set the context, and the contents of the bottle are reel you in. I’m told the winemaker here calls this the Barolo of Spain, and he’s not too far wrong.
Pasanau La Morera De Montsant Priorat 2003
A very tasty and affordable Priorat. It’s made from a blend of Garnacha, Cabernet, and Merlot from older vineyards and lives in in 1 year old American and French oak for 12 months. It’s bright and fresh, with a herby/medicinal character that may turn a few people off, but I like it.
Herederos de Argueso ‘San Leon’ Manzanilla
So this is the big daddy from Argueso, the award winning San Leon. I’ve written this up before, but as it turned up in a box of samples I tought it would be worth while re-visiting. If you had a look in my fridge at home you’d find at least a bottle of La Goya and a bottle of San Leon ready to go. For me, these are the best two examples of Manzanilla that are available in Australia, they are both regularly shipped out so you can usually find something that was bottled about 4 to 6 months ago, which is about the best we can expect on the other side of the world from Sanlúcar de Barrameda.
Primitivo Quiles Fondillon ‘El Abuelo’ Gran Reserva
So this is literally the Grandfather Fondillion from PQ (El Abuelo means grandfather in Spanish). The solera for this wine was started in 1892 and even though it is a single barrel, it is managed in the same way that solera is. Only a small amount is drawn from the solera each year and a small amount of new wine replaces the drawn out wine. Only something like 350 bottles are drawn from the solera in this case.
Primitivo Quiles Fondillon 1948
What the hell is Fondillon? Well, its basically a wine that is harvested with a very high sugar content, fermented into wine with a little residual sugar left over then put in a big barrel and aged for a very long time. It’s kind of like sherry, but it’s not fortified.
Argueso “Las Medallas de Argeso” Manzanilla
Yesterday I wrote about the younger brother of this manzanilla, which was all about edgy acidity and freshness. This guy is a year older and is more about flor complexity, softness and the barrels. I like both, but we finished the bottle of the 4 year old on the day, this was left…
Herederos de Argueso Manzanilla
You may know these guys from their very popular San Leon Classica Manzanilla. Most of the Manzanilla that gets shipped out to Australia is about 8 years old. However, this is a very young manzailla, with 4 years in wood. This leaves it with a bright, fresh outlook and a touch of flor character. It’s manzilla with the training wheels on, but at the same time I love the freshness and vibrancy. Fresh bottles will be very important with this style, Bibendum are regularly shipping this stuff out so you’re in good hands.
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