Bodega Teso la Monja Almirez 2007

If you remember Numanthia, the estate that the Egurens sold to LVMH in 2008, you’ll be familar with this wine. As far as I know, we never got the entry level wine from Numanthia but this is the direct replacement from the Eguren’s new estate, Teso la Monja. The will be a ‘premium’ and ‘super-premium’ wine as well. Personally, I think this wine is a step up from the previous one from Numanthia, it is very savoury and shows some serious restraint in terms of winemaking, it’s not overoaked, it isn’t overworked, and the result is about as far from ‘sunshine in a bottle’ that Toro is well known for, yet I can still see the classic Toro characters in there.

Martinet Bru 2005

This is a new import from the guys at Toro wines and there is plenty to like here. This is the second wine of Clos Martinet, it’s a little bit different from it’s contemoraries as its about half Merlot, with the rest made up of cabernet sauvignon and garnacha. The merlot gives is an open weave, lush feel which is ofset by the rocky minerals and firm acid. The oak work is mainly in older french oak, so you get a good look at the fruit without that huge lick of oak. Classy stuff.

La Perla del Priorat ‘Noster’ 2005

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I’ve got a couple of entry level on the tasting bench at the moment, this is the first. This was a big hit for me last year, a wine from Priorat at this price level and quality was quite rare at the time. But now wines in the $40-$60 price bracket are the must have item for many importers. And who’s complaining, seeing as the top wines from the region are going up again this year? There doesn’t seem to be one style at the price point, some are big rounded, easy drinking things, others are a bit tighter and focused. This falls into the later camp…

Sierra Cantabria Crianza 2004

The kitchen renos are almost done, as you can see in the photo the tiling still needs to be finished off. But at least I’m not cooking in the lounge room any more…The guys use a lot of sorting to get these wine in this shape, both on the vine and in the winery. 15 months in a mix of french andamerican oak, most of it older barrels up to 3 years old. I like this kind of forumla, you get the great fruit and the benifit of oak, but not a huge impact.

R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia Gran Reserva Blanco 1987

This is a note that has been in draft mode for about 6 months now. Not because the wine is bad or anything like that, its just an increadbly hard wine to describe. Reading an article in the NY Times, I thought it was about time to post it. I bought this bottle after coming back from Rioja and visiting López de Heredia and literaly being overwhelmed by how these people make this crazy wine. By all logic is should be well past it by the time it’s released, I mean who has heard of white wine kept in casks for nine and a half years then in bottle for another 13 or so years before its released? The people who make it say the secret is the acid, and you can clearly see that when you taste it. It looks oxidized, but tastes like it could do another 10 years standing on it’s head. It sounds like it should be musty and mouldy, but its fresh and floral.

Quinta do Crasto ‘Crasto’ 2007

After a couple of weeks of demolishing kitchens, sanding and polishing floorboards, fitting a new kitchen and a few other things, I’m back tasting again. So to kick things off I’ve got this entry level wine from the Douro valley in Portugal. Many of you will know that Dominic Morris is involved in the operations here and he has made a very tasty and highly drinkable wine from the excellent 2007 vintage.