Dave Worthington
Time to move on…
If you’re one of the people that occasionally pops by to see if I’ve posted anything, I’ll save you a couple of seconds from now on. I’ve decided to call time on Tinto y Blanco after 6 years, and if you hadn’t noticed there has been a distinct lack of effort on my part over the last 6 months or so. But there is a really good reason why.
Back home after a quick trip to Rioja
I’ve just got back from a long weekend in La Rioja that I’d tacked on to the end of a work trip. Not a lot of formal tasting, I did catch up with Scott Wasley from the Spanish Acquisition for a big session at Roda and visited a few of my favorite small producers.
Santiago Ruiz Ablariño 2009
It’s been a while since I’ve seen this wine around, which is a shame as it’s a very good rendition of Albarino. Plus I’m a sucker for a kitsch label. It is also quite a bit cheaper now. Given the heat wave we’re having in Melbourne at the moment, this was perfect with a bacon, leek and zucchini frittata. The importer is The Wine Company.
Toscar Sauvignon Blanc 2009
Looks like summer has finally decide to rear it’s ugly head in Melbourne. While I don’t mind the heat, I don’t go out of my way to spend days on end in high 30s/40 degree heat. Much better off spending the day in a restaurant with good air conditioning, which is what we did yesterday. An excellent lunch at La Luna, washed down with a nice selection from the small but well thought out list. La Luna has to be one of the most consistently excellent joints in Melbourne, best steak for my money too.
Toscar Tempranillo Crianza 2008
To be honest, this is very similar to the 2007 that I reviewed last year. Consistently good quality and well priced wines are always good in my book. Sure, it’s not the most exciting thing to drink, but for 14 bucks I think you’d be hard pressed to find a better wine to go with those Tuesday night lamb chops…
Latente Crianza 2006
A quick one today. A very handy wine from Ce Soir, I had the 2004 a while ago, a lovely wine. Just like the 2004, this is made from 80% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano, 10% Mazuelo, 12 months in, what I’d guess is older American wood.It’s a classic formula, so why change it? In fact, this perfectly shows some of the things that are going on in Rioja at the moment, it’s modern, yet traditional, well packaged and good value..the binary labels of modern or traditional thing just doesn’t apply in most cases.
Mount Majura Tempranillo 2009
A busy week at work last week, perfectly capped off by seeing Blues Explosion at the Espy on Friday night. Great to see these guys in a small venue. Anyway, on to the wine. This wine really stood out at the TempraNeo tasting last year (along with the Mayford), and the thing that attracts me to this wine is that it has personality. Sure, there is a nod to Spain, but this shows firmly individual and unique characters that could only be Mount Majura Tempranillo. This is what we should be doing with Tempranillo in Australia.
Camino del Pelegrino Albariño 2009
This is the ‘regional’ wine from Pazo Senorans, in fact it’s mostly from their neighbours. Excellent value and highly enjoyable…
Toscar Monastrell Crianza 2006
Toscar Monastrell has to be one of the best value wines from Spain around, and this is it’s older brother. A year in wood, smooths out the edges and lends a little finesse to the wine, while keeping the freshness and bold spirit. In fact when I had a look at the range a few months ago, this really stood out as a favorite.
Telmo Rodriguez El Transistor 2008
A new wine from the Compañia de Vinos Telmo Rodriguez, a premium Verdejo from Rueda. Personally, I’m not sure there is a huge market $60 a bottle Verdejo (or $90 on a wine list), but I do admire their spirit in attempting to get the best possible wine out of old vine Verdejo from Rueda and lift it to something more than a Sauv Blanc alternative.
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