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. This one has a fair of the wild herbs that I’m not that fond of, however others do like this character. After testing it out on a few unsuspecting friends, I think you’re going to love it or hate it.

The nose opens up with a stong note of wild herbs, fennel bulb and green apple and pear. Slightly textured with a bite of acid and subtle fruit characters. That herby note is a bit more subduded here, some nice crunchy acid and it seems well balanced. The plate is a bit subdued in terms of flavour, a bit of pear and lemon but the acid drives it along nicely. Out of the two this drinks a notch below the Mocen, but still worth a look if you see it buy the glass somewhere. 87 Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Cost: $23 Closure: Screwcap

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.

Vina Ciento Cinco, to give it’s full name, is made from Tempranillo without wood as far as I can tell. As usual with Telmo’s wines, the label is quite eye catching.

The thing I like about this wine is it’s confident nature. Nothing sticks out and everything is in the right place. It’s straight forward, but with a bit of character. The nose shows plenty of earthy cherry and raspberry notes, with a touch of smoke. In the mouth it shows juicy raspberry and blackberry fruit, a sprinkle of liquorice root and earth. A moderately generous finish with plump tannins. Very good drinking. 88 Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Cost: $28 Closure: Conventional Cork

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.

The nose open up with raspberry and strawberry, with some green herbs, even a touch of lemon peel. Easy drinking and rounded in the mouth, it’s a little uninspiring with out food, but shows it’s best side with food. More of the same on the palate, a touch of lemon juice like acid on the finish. 88 Pts

Source:  Toro/Woods Wines Price: $22 Closure: Conventional Cork 

Web:  www.marquesderiscal.com

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…

The nose starts things off punchy with strawberries and raspberries, rocky minerals and bunch of wild herbs.  In the mouth you’ll find a silky, but broad texture.  A long dry finish with a touch of soft tannin.  More raspberry and strawberry with a red apple skin note. A difficult wine to really describe well, but excellent rosado. 91 Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Cost: $23 Closure:Screwcap

Web: www.cellercapcanes.com

Other Vintages: 2006

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.

Garnacha rosados tend to be a bit spicer and herby than most, it’s one of the reasons I like them. Just a bit more interesting. The nose on this is full of raspberries and strawberries, a bit of toffee and herby undergrowth.  As usual, it’s dry and has plenty of acid to clean up any fatty food you may be eating at the time.  This does show some light tannins on the finish, which gives it a bit of grip. More of the same on the palate, with a bit of added spice and apple. Nice. 87 Pts.

Source:Woods Wines/Toro Wines Price: Around $18 Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.bodegasaragonesas.com

Other Vintages: 2005

Valmiñor 2007

The number of retailer’s I’ve heard say “you’ll be on to a winner if you put some albariño underscrew cap and charge $20 for it” is amazing and they’re right. Well this goes halfway there, screwcap really suits the style too. Of course, I can’t really tell if it’s the vintage or the closure without a cork closed bottle to compare with, but this is the freshest tasting albariño I’ve had outside Spain or Portugal.

Fresh and crisp are the two best words for this. I could add early season peach, loads of minerals, lemon peel and a dash of kaffir lime leaves and all the usual albariño descriptors but that would complicate it too much.  This is classic valmiñor: tight and focused with intensely minerally acid and a long tangy finish of white peach and lime leaves.  Excellent stuff, almost Chablis like in character. I’m loving these 07 Albariños…92 Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $34 Closure: Screwcap

Web: www.adegasvalminor.com

Gonzalez Byass Elegante Fino

There doesn’t seem to be much good news in the paper these days. Words like economic meltdown, recession, jobs cuts and such seem to be on every page. It’s a good thing the only market I follow is the local farmer’s market, all these tales of woe could drive a man to drink. If you have done your wad in the market, at least you can find some reasonably priced sherry to dull the pain.

This note has been hanging around for a while, but this is a good budget priced fino to while away a few hours with.

Very pale in the glass, you could almost confuse it for water. The nose is full of healthy flor character, green apples and a hint of salty nuts.  Fairly basic in the mouth, fresh apple and roasted almonds with zingy acid and .  Fresh and light, it’s a fun drink with plenty to offer at this price point. 86 Pts. 

Source: Broadway Liquor Distributors Price: $17 Closure: Cork Stopper

Web: www.gonzalezbyass.com

Dominio Espinal Rosado 2007

 I ventured out to the Forum last night to see Supergrass. I’ve been a fan for a long time, in fact I Should Coco would be in my all time, top 5 albums. The lads are in top form (apart from Gaz’ amp playing up) and the new tracks are excellent live. I think they played half of I shoud coco, so I came home a very happy man. We had a glass of this before heading off to the gig.

Dominio Espinal is made from monastrell in the highlands in Yecla. This is very similar to the 2005 I tasted last year, consistency in a rose is always a good thing. You don’t want to think too much about it when you grab it from the fridge.

I love the colour of this wine, it doesn’t come out well in the jpeg (bloody photoshop!) but it’s a bright red.   The nose if full of red cherry and strawberry with toffee apple and an earthy/gamey note. Some of the descriptors here will sound sweet, the wine is very much in the dry rose spectrum with sweet fruit and candy aromas and flavors.  It’s well balanced with a little grip, which I like in rosado. It’s very tight when chilled, but let it warm up and it’s got a broad textured feel which is where the sweet spot is. Light cherry and apple in the mouth, I can’t seem to get the Toffee Apple character out of my head with this wine.   A long finish with tangy apple skin. Very good for days when you don’t want something too cold (like now in Melbourne) 88 Pts.

Source: Toro/Woods wines Price:  Around $18 Closure: Synthetic Cork

Web: www.bodegascastano.com

Other Vintages: 2005

Artazuri Garnacha Rosado 2007

The spring pinks continue… I’m working on a few shots for the Canon Photo5 competition, in the process I’ve realised that I suck at taking pictures of anything but wine bottles or my cat. It’s not that bad, but it seems like it. Anyway, the wine. The chaps at Artazuri have lifted the packing up to the level of whats inside the bottle here. This is another wine that is now under screwcrap.

I love the colour, bright pinky red. Grenache is a very handy grape for rose wines, it tends to give you flavours more in the raspberry range than strawberry, but a few wild herbs to keep things interesting. That describes this wine perfectly: the nose is full raspberry, with a bit of strawberry and red apple with a touch of wild herbs. It’s kind of juicy and textured in the mouth, with an acid kick. Straight forward and bone dry, it shows good intensity and bold flavour for a rose. Very good with food too, I had this with a roast chicken and it matched up beautifully. 89 Pts.   

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $20 Closure: Screwcap

Muga Rosado 2007

I dropped into Randall’s new store in Hawthorn last night for a look around. The offer of a glass of Krug or Pol Roger Winston Churchill 1998 made it a little hard to resist. It’s a great shop, well set out and with some very knowledgeable staff. The range of Spanish and Portuguese gear is outstanding. The thing I really like is that they have interesting stuff at just about every price point. Anyway, I got home about 8:30 and though a refreshing rosado and a good book was in order…

The thing I like about this wine is that it really tastes like they have put in the best parts of a white wine and the best parts of a rose. It does have 30% viura, so there is a fair bit of white wine in there. The book is Tom Clancy’s Red Storm Rising, I’m told that it is essential reading so I picked up a second hand copy. Good book so far, but it really shows how much things have and haven’t changed much since the mid 80s.

Notes of toffee apple, something a little herbal, strawberry and lemon peel. It’s very tight and white wine like in the palate with minerally acid and a very long finish. There is quite a bit of acid here and if I wasn’t drinking it in bed, a nice chicken or rich fish dish would have been in order. The palate show fresh and just ripe apples, strawberry and lemon. It’s clean and refreshing, it stands out and reminds you that you are drinking good wine with every sip. 90 Pts.

Source: Toro/Woods Wines Price: $23 Closure: Conventional Cork

Other Vintages: 2006