Pineapple and spice on the nose, with a touch of passion fruit and lemon after some vigorous swirling. Light texture and good balance bring a pleasing mouth feel, zingy acid on the finish. More of the same on the palate, a herbal note adds a bit of complexity. Good glugging with my rip off of the Cos heart and anchovies from Bar Lourinha…87 Pts.

The nose is open and inviting, plenty of nice, warm fruit with a bit of vanilla and mocha. Round and a bit fleshy in the mouth, good length on the finish with tangy acid. Savory and moreish. A solid, juicy kind of thing, great for washing down grilled meats. 87 Pts.

Now this is not as well formed or structured as your average Verdejo from Rueda, but its a fairly good drink. Notes of lemon and melons on the nose, with a touch of sage and green bean. Plenty of acid and length too. I think it’s s style that really needs food to work,  so I drank this with a fairly simple seafood pasta and it worked a treat. 86 Pts.

It’s a wood aged version of the Tempranillo I had last week, all tempranillo with a bit of american oak treatment. The wood is well done, there are very few obvious wood notes but the wine is rounded with punchy acid. The warmer areas of Spain seem to have done well in 2007…

The nose kicks things off well with aniseed, earthy herbs and spice, plum, cherry and a touch of balsamic. It’s quite rich and giving on the nose, but not sweet and jammy. and driving acid. Juby fruit on the palate with some added pepper/hot cinnamon with a long finish. It’s medium boddied and rounded but with some driving acid. Dusty, small tannins on the generious finish. Perfect for a knock about day on the couch. 88 Pts. 

Source: Heart and Soil Price: $20  Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.vinicoladecastilla.com

A fairly typical nose for Tempranillo from a warmer area: Plums and varnish, with earthy raspberry and blackberry. In the mouth there is a green herbal edge that works for this wine, with plums and raspberry over very light raisin and spice. Rustic in approach, there are some dusty tannins and everything is in blanance. Very tasty and drinkable. 88 Pts. 

Source: Heart and Soil Price: $18  Closure: Screwcap

Web: www.vinicoladecastilla.com

Regardless, this is a pretty good wine. It does have that abundance of tannins that characterises the wines of 2004. I think in this case they could have turned down the oak dial a little, as there are some hard wood tannins mixed in with the soft and fleshy fruit tannins. 18 months in new American oak is the treatment here, the fruit stands up it well enough. The price seems to have gone up a bit since the 2002 as well…

Lots of woody notes on the nose: nutmeg, vanilla, coco and cedary oak over the top of some ripe blackcurrant, mulberry and plum. A bit of anise for interest. The tannins start of fleshy and fine, but build to be a bit raspy as the wine gets more air. There is some good acid here and a touch of earthy minerals. The palate shows a healthy bunch of fruit: plum, mulberry and blackcurrant with some wild herbs and hot cinnamon. A couple of years in the cellar should see those tannins soften a bit, but the scales will always tip towards the tanninic end of the scale. 89 Pts.

Source: Bibendum Wine Co. Price: $49 Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.elvinculo.com

Other vintages: 2002

Airen is the most widely planted white variety in Spain and it has some very important uses, mainly to be distilled and used as the fortifying sprit in Sherry and as the base wine for brandy production. Plus it gets used in all sorts of industrial products. Lots of table wine also gets made from it, and to be honest most of it is rubbish that you wouldn’t serve to anyone. However, this one is the exception tat proves the rule and is quite good. Perhaps its the organic practices, or perhaps just good management.

Very light colour in the glass with a fresh nose of nettles and sweet pear. Not all that complex in the mouth, but fresh and balanced with a bit of texture. More pears in the mouth with some lemon and herbs towards the finish. The finish goes on for a bit. A good, inexpensive by the glass house wine or BBQ quaffer. 86 Pts.

Source: Broadway Liquor Distributors Price: $14 Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.yuntero.com

I’m told by people much smarter than I am, that some regions of Spain have a great future as producers of organic wine. Apparently its all about the climate and lack of rainfall, which keeps a lot of the nasties away and hence you don’t need to spray etc. With some regions getting less than 300mm in some years, it has a ring of truth to it.

I’m not sure if organic wine means much in the Aussie market at the moment. Certainly restaurants and supermarkets/shops that bill themselves as organic need something to sell, but is the organic factor crossed out by the food miles for imported wine?

It opens up a bit reductive, but cleans itself up with a bit of air to show musky plum and cherry, a bit of earth, hot cinnamon and bay leaf. Plenty of pepper and spice in the mouth, over the top of some sappy, red cherry fruit. Balanced with some tangy acid and a good finish. A good little wine for the BBQ or cheap quaffing. 86 Pts.

Source: Broadway Liquor Distributors Price: $14 Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.yuntero.com

This is another one of Alejandro Fernández's projects.  The wine is 100% Tempranillo and sees 18 months in new American oak. There is also a Reserva wine in this range, I'll try to track it down as well.

Deep red in the glass, with bright cherry at the edges.   The nose is full of red cherry, a bit of mocha coffee and some spicy oak.  Very modern in the mouth. Medium to full bodied, but warm and inviting with smooth, silky tannins, ripe raspberry fruit and nutty oak with an undergrowth character in the background.  A long finish with a touch of bitterness.  Should be a good drink for the next couple of years I think. Good value. 89 Pts.

Source: Boccaccio Cellars RRP: $30  Closure: Cork

Web: www.elvinculo.com