Tinto y Blanco is 2

Doesn’t time fly? 2 years on and the site is still expanding and gaining new readers all the time. I must say I’m chuffed with the response to the site, the level of support from the importers, the industry and everyone interested in Spanish and Portuguese wine.  So a big thanks to everyone. As a way of saying thanks I’ve arranged a bit of a give away over here. Make sure you click on this link to enter.

Here are some stats on the past year:

• In July last year 12,000 people (6,800 according to Google Analytics) looked at the site.  Last month, just over 28,000 dropped by. (13,000 according to Google Analytics)
• The top 3 search terms for the site are: Flor de Pingus, Pork Belly and Spanish Wine.
• The strangest link to the site this year is from Cosmopolitan magazine (good to see teenage girls are into Spanish wine).
• The number of Australian readers increased to 65%. From out side Australia, the USA is the largest with 10%, the UK is second with 9% and it seems that some of the producers are checking up me with Spain and Portugal both coming in at  6% each.
• There have been 1,281 real comments (528 last year), 29,178 spam commen ts (only 4000 last year!).

  

Have a guess and win some wine

To celebrate Tinto y Blanco’s second birthday, I’ve managed to get a couple of bottles of wine together to reward some lucky person for reading my drivel. Many thanks to the importers that have donated a bottle or two for this.

So all you have to do is guess the number of corks in the box, you can click on the image to get a bigger image if you think that will help. Put your guess in a comment on this post (Do not email it too me) and you’re in with a chance of winning a nice little six pack of wines. The wines are:

• • Cillar de Silos Crianza 2005 and Remuleri Reserva 2003 from The Spanish Acquisition
  • Two bottles of I’Corus Quinta from Broadway Liquor Distributors
  • Martin Codax Burgans Albarino 2006
  • Something else…
    

Entries are open to all, however I can only ship the wines to an Australian address. One entry per person/email address/IP address. I will anounce the winner on the 9th of July.

Good luck and thanks for reading.

The Spanish Aquisition 2005 Premiums Tasting - Portuguese

So after a quick bit of bread and a glass of water, I’m on to the Portuguese table wines, as well as a couple of ports. This is the best showing of Portuguese wines I’ve seen in Australia and the quality here is unmistakable. Every wine here was high quality, showed great personality and I’d love to have all of them in my cellar.

Luis Pato Vinha Pan 2005 - A funky nose (in a good way) with cherry, blueberry and raspberry some bay leaf and pine/eucalyptus notes. Medium bodied with excellent balance but intense raspberry flavours, fine grained tannins and a very long finish. I rate this highly.

Luis Pato Vinha Barrosa 2005 - More spicy and less herby than the Pan, also a more meaty. Showing great raspberry fruit characters in the mouth but still very savoury. The balance here is superb, everything is just right.

Alvaro Castro Pepe 2005 -A great nose of red and blue fruits with a bit of funky barnyard, mocha and a touch of clove and cinnamon. Nice and clean in the mouth with tangy raspberry , a bit of smoke and minerals. Quite grippy.

Quinta do Crasto Reserva 2005 - Quite smoky on the nose with some typical rocky, sooty earth notes over the top of some plum, raspberry and blueberry fruit. Fleshy and spicy in the mouth, plenty of fruit here with big soft fruit tannins.

Quinta do Vallado Touriga Nacional 2005 - Perfumed nose of violets and christmas cake spices, a touch of mint for good measure over some plums, blueberries and cherries. Tannins are quite amazing. Very interesting wine.

Valle D. Maria Douro 2005 - This is a real step up, and that’s saying something in this line up. Mint, clove and quality small goods on the nose with some lovely fruit. Good acid level, some fleshy tannins giving plenty of texture and interest. Quite meaty and juicy. Goes on forever. Excellent stuff.

Meandro de Meao 2005 - Beautiful nose of sweet fruit: cherry, plum and currents with xmas cakes spice. Complex and inviting in the mouth with more of that great fruit and spice with some added liquorice and earthy/mineraly rocks notes.

Meao Douro 2005 - The big daddy of the Portuguese wines at this tasting. The nose is intense and complex: menthol, clove, soot, brambly undergrowth, plum, cherry, blueberry. The palate is All class too, intense and complex but open business. Quality tannins and super balance. Looks like it will live for ever too.

Quinta do Valle D. Maria LBV 2003 - Excellent QPR here, subtle raisin and prune with clove and rosella jam. Very smooth and balanced, good integration of spirit and fruit.

Quinta do Valle D. Maria VP 2005 - This makes those big blockbuster Aussie table wines look even more porty. Elegant and so highly drinkable. The nose offers up ripe fruit (my notes say pomegranate and rosella, but not sure on those) with subtle clove and other spices. Its quite minerally too. Smooth as a baby’s….

Niepoort VP 2005 - This is a step up in complexity and depth from the last one. Intensely flavoured and structured. Its a bit more aggressive in structure, but shows really well right now. One to put in the cellar by the case if you’re a port fan.

The Spanish Aquisition 2005 Premiums Tasting - Spanish

I attended The Spanish Aquisition 2005 Premiums Tasting on Monday and tasted a range of wines from the 2005 vintage in Spain and Portugal. And what a show it was, these 2005s are looking excellent and there is something here for everyone.

Here are some quick notes on the Spanish wines tasted, as usual no scores for this quick sip, slurp and spit type event. I'll post the Portuguese stuff tomorrow.

Capanes Lasandal 2005 - Raspberry, a bit of good wood and earthy/hot rock notes. Quite tight in the mouth with some fluffy tannins, some cherry, plum  and raspberry. Really like this.

Capanes Cabrida 2005 - Similar in stye to Lasandal, but a bit more serious. Showing herbs and spice with a bit of sars and chunky tannins. Very good.

Descendientes de José Palacios 'San Martin' single vineyard 2005 - Whoa, this is some serious stuff. Sweet cherry and mulberry with some blue fruits, quite musky and rich on the nose. Quite explosive on the palate with musk sticks blueberry, a touch of rasin and cherry cola. Powerful and plenty of tannins.  Excellent booze.

Palacios Remondo 'La Montesa' 2005 - This has opened up nicely, not looking as hardcore as my last look. Very good.

Palacios Remondo 'Propiedad' 2005 - Again looking a lot more open than my last look.

Telmo Rodriguez Lanzaga 2005 - Nicey nice on the nose, layers of aroma starting off with earthy cherry and mulberry then some herbs and liqourice followed by some nice wood. Very compelling.

Telmo Rodriguez Altos de Lanzaga 2005 - Vanilla, chocolate, esspresso, lots of high toast oak notes. Showing a lot of wood at the moment, with some great fruit underneath.

Telmo Rodriguez Pago la Jara 2005 - This is looking very good, the oak treatment is excellent and shows classic Toro characters of cola, dark cherry, big soft tannins and plenty of meaty, juby fruit.

Telmo Rodriguez M2 de Matallana 2005 - Looks a bit closed on the nose, earthy cherry and mulberry with some herbs. The palate is quite spicy with fine boned tannins, very long finish. Quite tight at the moment. Needs some time to sort it self out, but will be great.

Telmo Rodriguez Matallana 2005 - Spicey punes on the nose with a little nutmeg but otherwise similar to the M2. A bit raisiny on the palate with a big lick of minerals. Looks like its still in shipping shock a little.

Cillar de Silos Crianza 2005 - Class all the way, silky smooth with some animal notes, ripe cherry and currents. Very happy with this one.

Cillar de Silos Torresilo 2005 - as above, looking great and will only get better in the cellar.

Flor de Pingus - A bit introspective today, but still showing bucket loads of promise.

The Spanish Acquisition August Tasting

For some reason I decided not to write up tastings when I started out, something about not being able to do the wine justice in such a small window.  I'm still not happy to give a full tasting note or score from a tasting, but I now think a quite impression is more helpful than not.  Plus I can keep all my notes in one place…

I turned up to the Tea Rooms at the Supper Club, notebook in hand, to have a look at most of the 04/06 Telmo Rodriguez gear, new Cillar de Silos, Cellars Capcanes and some other stuff.  The TSA crew were well setup and in full swing.  There where also some interesting back vintages and a vertical of Torresilo 00,03,04, and 05 which gave me a good view of the the 03, 04 and 05 vintages and confirmed in my mind that 04 is not all that it is hyped to be for all the regions of Spain.  In fact I'd say Dr. Jay has it wrong with his statements that 05 is a good vintage, but not up to the standard of 04.  I don't think you can be that black and white about a whole country's wine production.  The 03s are looking very good at the moment too.

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A quiet night at La Luna

Taking the very, long way home last night, I found myself walking down Rathdowne Street in Carlton where I spotted a couple of shady looking blokes drinking Moo Brew down a side street. Although there about 4 million people in Melbourne, I knew it was highly likely one of them would be Dan Clarke. Sure enough, Dan and Bert were tucking into a beer next to La Luna Bistro. Appearing from the darkness, Buzz seemed to be negotiating some kind of high level deal on his mobile.

Pleasantries were exchanged and talk turned to Spanish and Italian wine. Anthony must have some kind of 6th sense, ala Spiderman, as he arrived a few minutes later with a bottle of Barbaresco in hand. I, of course, had my customary 2 bottles of Spanish wine, a bottle of PX and a 750 of Port in my backpack, the guys pulled a bunch of wine from various stashes. Dinner was on.

We were shown to a table and offered our wine for the proper treatment, but found that our meager stash (9 bottles) just wasn’t going to be enough. Luckily, some kind soul had left 3 bottles of Spanish wine behind the bar. The WBI was now at an acceptable 2.4, with some PX, Port and a few reds in reserve.

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Melbourne Food and Wine Festival Spanish Masterclass

I was lucky enough to get a seat at a couple of very good master classes last week.  Put on by the Australian Sommeliers Association and the Spanish Trade Commission, there were two sessions complete with a panel of local and imported personalities and lots of goodies in between the sessions.  A lot of work had obviously gone into setting up these tastings, the very nice upstairs room at Comme was the location and a number of hard to get wines where flown in from Spain. A lot of support from all the major importers as well.

Apart from the wine there were a number of good Spanish things to munch on, cheese, olives, bread etc.  But the real standout was the Jamon Iberico from Broadway Gourmet.  I think I ate about half a kilo of the stuff, so I feel qualified to say that this particular Jamon is the best I have had in Australia, really well flavored and textured, impossible to pass up. It not avilable at retail in Melbourne yet, so you'll have to go to Movida to try some.

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Vega Sicilia Dinner

I went to a great event hosted by Randalls and Negociants on Thursday the 27^th with almost the entire Vega Sicilia team including the owner, Pablo Alverez, and his son, Pablo Jnr.  The guys had been ensconced in the big private room out the back of the Botanical on Domain Rd, South Melbourne.  To start with, the food was outstanding, a fantastic egg and truffle dish and a glorious beef cheek dish where the highlights for me.  The service was also excellent, professional and friendly. 

But really the main focus here was the almost complete range of wines produced by Vega Sicilia, Pintia, Alion, Valbuena and Uncio.  Plus two Tokaji wines form their estate in Hungry.  The only wine missing was Unico Reserva Especial.

The commitment to producing great wine is clear in every thing that they do. Apparently the guys turned up, opened and checked all the wine, checked the glasses and found a hint of something not right, so we rinsed all of our glasses in Pintia.  They don't belive in second wines here, all unused grapes go off to the distillery and if its not a good year for Unico, they don't make it.  In 2001 the Unico vineyards had some frost issues and the first buds were destoryed.  The decision was made not to make Unico for this year, so much of the fruit went into Valbuena that year.

I had a chat to Javier Aujas, the Technical Director/winemaker for the Vega Sicilia group, about their white wine project, they planted marsanne, rousanne, viognier and chardonnay in the late 90s and have dropped the fruit each year up until 2004.  In 2004 they produced a test wine, testing will continue on until 2009 and if the team believe that the wine is up to the Vega Sicilia standard they will release the wine commercially.  If not, they'll stop production and move on to something else.

The comment of the night would have to go to Pablo Alverez (Snr) who was asked what other wines they drink at home and if they drink Burgudy.  The answer was "Yes, white.  Montrachet is very big in our house." Nice.

While it was a great night, I don’t think that these type of events are the best environment for tasting and evaluating wine.  I’d prefer to have a couple of hours and half a bottle of each wine to write a good tasting note, the follow is just a brief impression of the wines on the night.

Javier Aujas talked us through each bracket of wines, the history of Vega Sicilia itself and each of the other projects.   Here are the wines:

Mandolas Dry Durmint 2003 - A good start to the night, a most unusual wine that reminded me of aged riesling.  I didn't look too hard at this one, just enjoyed it.

Pintia 2002 - Deep red in colour, as are all the Vega Sicilia reds.  Blackberry, espresso, woody herbs and a little oak on the nose.  Very smooth and integrated in the mouth, very well balanced and refined.  There are some serious tannins in here with a healthy kick of acid towards the finish. 14.5% alc. 93 Pts

Pintia 2003 - Very intense nose of blackberry and ripe plums, some spice, cola with some light florals.  Ripe and juicy in the mouth, showing the heat of the vintage. Very concentrated dark berry fruit, with some coffee and cola type flavours. Good finish. The 15% alc is well hidden.  I think this needs a bit more time in the cellar.  91 Pts.

Bodegas Alion 2001 - Very different to the previous two wines with dark fruits (cherry and currents), roasted nuts, dried herbs, pipe tobacco and a floral aspect.  Very smooth and integrated, a bit more acid than the Pintias with the classic Alion tannins. A real gem. 95 Pts.

Bodegas Alion 2002 -Very similar to the 01, however this seems much more open but slightly lacking a bit of the 01's structure.  On the nose dried herbs stand out, with some dark cherry and espresso.  Warm and inviting in the mouth with silky tannins.  93 Pts.

Vega Sicilia Valbuena 5 anos 2000 - Dark plum, vanilla and cigar box on the nose.  Plenty of pure, fresh fruit in the mouth, quite complex and structured as well.  Balanced and well integrated.  Looks like this will age very well.  94 Pts.

Vega Sicilia Valbuena 5 anos 2001 - This is one complex wine.  From here on in it is difficult to get a good sense of the wines as they change every few minutes in the glass.  There is a lot of fruit from the Unico vineyards in this wine, as Unico will not be produced in 2001. Loads of red berry fruit on the nose and oak influences like roasted coffee beans, cedar and toasty oak.  Dark berry fruits in the mouth with a huge finish and gorgeous tannin structure.  Needs time in the cellar, but a classic wine.  96 Pts.

Vega Sicilia Unico 1994 - This has everything you could ever want in a wine, ripe fruit, great structure and complexity, perfect balance, and finish that is about a minute or so.  I was lucky enough to get an extra pour of this and look at it over an hour and a half.  It changed its spots a couple of times, but seemed to settle after an hour or so.  A great nose of blackberry, cherries and currents with highlights of cigar tobacco, vanilla, liquorice with some truffle and rose oils.  Layers of flavour on the palate, dark berry fruits, minerals, vanilla and liquorice are just a few of them.  Noticeable, but great tannins.  Full bodied and powerful, yet restrained with harmonious balance.  A very long finish with some extra minerals.  This is great wine.  97+ Pts.

Vega Sicilia Unico 1995 - Very different to the 94, a bit rounder and more open with loads of fruit and complexity.  Dark fruit notes on the nose with old leather, spice, liquorice and some herby/floral notes.   Very generous in the mouth, if a bit tannic at this stage.  Dark berry fruit again in the mouth, with a bit of coffee/chocolate.  Lacks some of the structure of the 94, but is still a great wine. 96 Pts.

Oremus Tokaji Aszu 1999 - I didn't really look at this too much, but it is a great wine none the less.  Sweet, but the acid keeps things nice and fresh.  A great way finish of the night.

I think the guys from Vega Sicilia got a good look at Melbourne nightlife during the night: the Botanical back bar and the restaurant were heaving with people, with a back beat of Doof-Doof later on in the night.  As they where leaving, it looked like Pablo Jnr. was up for kicking on with some of the ladies in the bar.  Pablo Snr had other ideas.  A great night overall and one I won't be forgetting in a hurry.