Spain
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.
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.
Pazo de Señorans Albariño 2009
I have a bunch of notes for samples that importers have sent in over the past 6 months. Poor form on my part for not writing these up soon, but they’ll all be up over the next couple of weeks…To be honest, I don’t know a hell of a lot about this wine and it’s story. It is one of the most popular and written about Albariños around however, and a bloody good drink.
Alion 2005
It’s always good to start the year off with an exceptional wine, and this 2005 Alion fit the bill nicely. I had a look at the 2004 and 2005 Alion at the Vega Sicilia road show in March 2009, and at the time I thought the 2004 had a slight edge over the 2005. But it’s irrelevant really, Alion is a fantastic wine even in poor vintages, which 2005 certainly was not. It ages like a champ, gaining complexity and finesse, but can be enjoyed young with a bit of breathing time.
Telmo Rodriguez ‘LZ’ 2009
Last year was a write off in terms of blog postings, but it’s almost the new year and time to get back on the horse…I had hoped to see this wine in tank when I was in La Rioja in Feb last year, but alas the snow and conflicting schedules got in the way. Now it’s in bottle and here in Australia, I’ve a very happy boy indeed
Recent Comments
- Haley on Salvador Poveda ‘Borrasca’ 2002
- gourbaud on Coto de Hayas Crianza 2003
- Becky on Telmo Rodriguez Gaba do Xil 2006
- Barb on Valminor Davila 2006
- Alex Fuentes on Other Information
