author archive

Dave Worthington

Dave Worthington has written 429 posts for Tinto y Blanco

Estio Rosado 2007

Just a quick note on this one, it’s the second last rosado in the pile. Rose wine is a great drink, but really tasting it and writing up notes kind of misses the point. It’s for drinking, not thinking in my book.
Estio made from 70% Monastrell with a bit Tempranillo and Syrah.
Bright red/pink in colour, it’s quite a [...]

Mocen Verdejo 2007

Obviously, I’ve been doing too many tastings of late: It looks like I got my notes mixed up on the two verdejos I had last week. The note from the Orden Tercera Verdejo 2007 was actually for this wine. Not good, but it happens. I have updated the other post with the new note…

Alvaro Castro Dão Tinto 2007

Just a quick note on this one. This is Alvaro Castro’s entry level wine and I find that it’s the kind of wine that polorises people. It’s gamey and a bit wild, I find I need a couple of sips to get into it, but once I’m there I have a great time.

Los Hermanos Albariño 2008

I don’t drink enough of the local wines made from Spanish or Portuguese varieties. It’s not that I don’t think they’re up to scratch, but I usually have my hands full keeping up with the imported stuff. With the ever dropping dollar, imports are going to get more expensive and wines like this may well fill the hole when most imported Albariños are pushing $35 to $40 bucks a bottle.

Orden Tercera Verdejo 2007

I had a couple of cheaper verdejos earlier in the week, and I was impressed at the quality level. I find that some of the cheaper offerings made from verdejo can be a bit oxidised, and frankly too herbal and vegetative. Not so here. I drink a fair bit of verdejo when I’m in northern Spain, most bars have a good one on stand by when you’ve had an overload of vino tinto over the past week. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve been, I’m dying to get back but I keep buying wine when I should be saving for a plane ticket…

Telmo Rodriguez Vina 105 2006

Cigales is a small region just north of Valladolid in north west Spain. Like many regions, wine has been made here for generations, the signature wines are rosados made from tempranillo and garnarcha and a little verdejo or ablillo. It’s one of the few wine regions in the world that celebrates the blending of red and white grapes. Cote Rotie, the home of the now ubiquitous shiraz viognier blend, being the most famous I can think of.

From the cellar: Roda Reserva 2003 375ml

I bought a case of half bottles of 2003 Roda thinking that I’d stick them away somewhere dark and cool for 5 year then pull them out for drinking on quiet nights at home. Good idea, not so good in reality though. They never made it out of the wine fridge at home into off site storage, so the odd bottle comes out now and then when I feel like a glass and a half of something good. There are 7 bottles left a year later.

Marques de Riscal 2006

Not to be out done, Marques de Riscal also makes a rosado from young tempranillo vines in Rioja. In fact they’ve been doing it for nearly 50 years. The resulting wine is fairly good, but I think they need to give away the visual references to the ol’ gold wire that you find around the bottles of the reserva.

Mas Donis Rosado 2007

A great rosado with a seemingly girl friendly packaging makeover, including screwcap on top, plenty of fruit, great texture and a long finish. It’s as good as the 2006 and it should be flying off the shelves over the next couple of months…

Coto de Hayas Rosado 2007

The rosado campaign continues…I think I’ve run out of things to say about rosado. So instead I’ll talk about Spanish national day tomorrow (12th of October). A good excuse to cook up a pealla and drink something Spanish. That’s my plan anyway. If you’re out and about, Rathdowne cellars are having a tasting on Sunday, including Telmo’s big gun from Ribera del Duero, Matallana. It’s free, so what are you waiting for.

Categories

Producer Profiles

Recent Comments