Tinto y Blanco

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.

I did have a short lived affair with Bordeaux and Priorat for a couple of years, before the prices got way out of control. These days I just buy more Alion and Vega Sicilia Valbuena. No it’s not the same, and that the point. I got sick of finding old and tired wines in the cellar after 5 years (Priorat) and spending a month’s pay on a case or two of wine (Boardeaux). Sure these wines aren’t cheap, I’d be lucky to buy a 6 pack of each these days, I do however feel I get better value for money and more enjoyment from the wines of Ribera del Duero.

On this tasting the 2005 is showing more fruit and herby undergrowth than last time, with a grab bag of other notes showing up as the wine gets more air: olives, violets, blackberry, mulberry and some cherry. Oak is in a supporting role, a bit of sawn wood and freshly ground coffee in the background. Long and layered in the mouth, I would almost call this lean at the moment, needs time to develop that lovely texture shich shows up by the last glass. Structured, but enjoyable at the moment. Give it a big sleep to get the most out of it, 10 years is perfect, this will easily go 20+ years in the cellar. 94+ Pts

Source: Boccaccio Cellars Price: $139 Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.bodegasalion.com

I’m in a real Ribera del Duero kind of mood of late, maybe to balance out the 05 Rioja I’ve been hoarding, whatever  the reason Ribera and Italians have been getting high rotation on the tasting bench. I’ve had a look at this wine a couple of times now, and to be honest it was underwhelming on first taste, tasting a bit like Bordeaux from a cold, wet vintage (i.e. dilute and green with chunky tannins). Oh dear not good. Right time for a another bottle at home with some ribeye…

Oak, lots of oak. That’s my first thought. Ok, it is quality oak and it’s not totally dominating the fruit initially but it’s fairly obvious. A bit more air and the fruit comes up to meet the wood halfway, starting to look good. A little herby, a touch of cola and plenty of ripe dark red fruits. In the mouth it’s a different story, your in first class here. It sits on a fine line between medium and full bodied, excellent acid and rough suede like tannins. A bit of a tight rope walker this one, one step either way it wouldn’t work. But it pulls it off convincingly. Not the best vintage of Flor de Pingus, but I have a feeling this will be a late bloomer in about 5 years. 90+ Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $195 Closure: Conventional Cork

Other vintages: 2005, 2006

When I first started buying Spanish wine it was very much like having some kind of collector’s fetish. Hunt around for the wines, hear something about a new import and spend weeks trying to find out where to get it Word of mouth was king. These day’s I’m almost falling over Spanish wines in booze shops, bars and restaurants, you can read about them in local papers and plenty of blogs and I have even heard people talking about Rioja on the train once. Things have definitely moved on. One big change has been in the supermarket chains. You can now find a decent range of wines from all over Spain (and Portugal too) in both Vintage Cellars and Dan Murhpy’s stores. The old token range of big house swill is mostly gone and you can find some quality wines at reasonable prices. And they have gone to some length to get it right: they’ve hired some very smart and experienced chaps to find the wines, either through established importers (as this wine is) or importing them direct. Of course, the supermarkets haven’t been the kindest to many wine brands over the years and there is still a big gap between the good independant retailers and the chain stores in terms of service and range (and price in many cases), but that’s not the point.  The point is this: most Spanish and Portuguese wine is sold in restaurants and bars in Australia. What this does do is to bring these wines out of the wine geek’s realm and more into the mainstream wine drinker’s. This can only be a good thing.

Anyway, I picked this up at Dan Murphy’s on Friday night, rather surprised to see it there. After all, this is a fairly small family run bodega that gets a bit of press every now and then. I’ve had their Reserva in Spain a couple of times, now that its available here it’s well work tracking down if Ribera is your thing. The short story on this one is that’s Tempranillo grown in lime rich soils in northern part (towards Burgos) of Ribera del Duero, that gets a quick dunk in french and american oak for 4 months (hence the name)…Imported by Bibendum.

A bit stinky on opening, but this cleans up in a minute or two to reveal a nose of tar and spice, salami, sweet cherry and a little funky mulberry. Very slick in the mouth, smooth with buscuit crumb tannins but that acid drive things along nicely. Deeply flavoured, juicy fruit as you’d expect from Ribera del Duero, with cola, minerals, clove and sage.  Lip smackingly good, grab a rack of lamb for the BBQ and a bottle of this for a nice sunday lunch. Drink now and over the next 5 years. 90 Pts

Source: Dan Murphy’s Price: $31 Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.bodegasfelixcallejo.com