Vesevo
Fiano di Avellino DOCG
Vendemmia 2007
Pale, lemon with watery rim. Clean with medium intensity. Fresh, zesty and floral. Youthful - smells as though it should be massively refreshing and crisp... This is borne out on the palate. The nose had more stone fruit than the palate which was definitely on the citrus side of things. Youthful on both nose and palate. Medium body, acid. Medium-high flavour intensity on palate, which is more intense than would be expected from the nose. Good length for the style of wine, medium length for a general white wine. A very good wine of its type.
Vigneti di Foscarino
Soave Classico (DOCG)
2006
My first tasting note was dead mouse. Not an auspicious start! Corked. Damn!
Particularly annoying since (i) the only other time I've had an expensive Soave (Pieropan) it was very interesting and (ii) this was my disappointing contribution to the evening.
El Quintanal, 2006 Vendimia Seleccionada
Ribera del Duero
Medium-high intensity. Nose developing interesting savoury aromas. All of us agreed on a definite smoky-bacon crisp aromas (frazzles)! Definitely something smoky and meaty. Plenty of vanilla. Fruit was slightly jammy cherries.
Medium bodied with medium acid and surprisingly low tannins. Relatively short. However, opened up very nicely. The savoury flavours which dominated in the beginning gave way to caramel after an hour or so..
Good, but a little disappointing. The smoky notes were overpowering on the finish and the rest of the flavours were too short. Drink now.
Marques de Caceres
Reserva 2001
Rioja DOCa
A little googling suggests that this is not far off the current release (2002 seems to be current) so they obviously err on the side of caution with meeting the minimum age requirements for a reserva. Plenty of vanilla on the nose with red cherries. Surprisingly young-tasting given the age, but not that surprising when one considers the fact that this is only recently released. Medium-high body, acid, flavour intensity and length. Tannins a little less than would have imagined given everything else. Black fruit on the palate, but a little unbalanced on the finish, which is dominated by oak.
Good, ready but can age. Probably needs more time for the oak to integrate properly. Although, having said that, the Ribeira showed better than this after an hour or so.
Castillo de Calatrava
1998 Gran Reserva
Tempranillo
Quite restrained on the nose, but with lots of complexity. Some savoury spice (cloves?), showing reasonable development. Far more fruit on the palate than on the nose. Really ripe fruit on the palate. Medium-high acid `and tannin, medium bodied. Mainly red fruit. Good length.
Very good, ready but can age.
E Pira & Figli
Vino Barolo
1967
Superb! Definitely the highlight of the night. When it was being decanted it was met with sceptical looks by those who doubted the aging power of Barolo. Admittedly, the colour would not inspire confidence in someone who has not had one of these before being the colour of a 20-year old tawny port and quite cloudy as well. However, the nose was phenomenal. There was plenty of smoky, tobacco, tar, violets, savoury/meaty characters. Plenty of development, as you'd expect from a 40+ year old wine. Every time we smelt this wine it was different. Still lots of tannins and acid, even after all this time. Well balanced until the end.
Subtle, complex and long, with the flavours coming in waves. This is what Barolo is all about.
Alberto Longo Primitivo
Salento (Puglia)
The suggested tasting notes were getting somewhat silly by this stage with this wine being declared "a breakfast drink". Maybe for Winston Churchill it would be, but I think I'll stick with coffee... at least during the week! There were lots of interesting aromas - I thought it smelt of good-quality BBQ sauce. Others thought tomato and Worcester sauce. Medium acid. Tannins were quite high (medium+ in WSET language) but very soft and very ripe. Lots of bitter black cherry with meaty savoury notes. Quite a lot of complexity, well balanced with good length.
Adam thought "outstanding" and whilst I wouldn't quite go that far it was very good.
Lusitano 2007
Alentejo VR
Portugal
Bitter cherry, smoke and eucalyptus on the nose. High, rough tannins. Quite a shock after the smooth (but high) tannins of the previous wine. A bit too short - the fruit character died very quickly and the mid-palate is quite hollow. Having said that, there is an earthy aftertaste which hangs around for a while. The tannins are out of balance and not sure the acid is high enough to age it long enough for them to integrate properly. However, with a steak I'm sure it would be good.
Monday, 11 May 2009
Monday, 4 May 2009
Ancient Rioja Article
Having finally got around to uploading the tasting notes from the Rioja tasting from 17 April I thought it was topical that I just received a google alert linking to an article about ancient rioja, or rather a specific ancient rioja from CVNE, from the excellent Wine Doctor site. This is one of my favourite wine websites - well written and with a wealth of information in it. It is often my first port of call when researching a specific producer.
The article can be found here.
The article can be found here.
Wines of Rioja
Friday 17 April 2009
Wines of Rioja
The second of our tutored tastings, this time led by Adam Dent. The first 10 wines were a tutored tasting of wines from the Rioja region. Then we had the first of our audience participation epilogues which was led by Mike Hinton.
1. Ondarre Cava Brut NV
Cava DO, £10
Clear pale gold with a restrained mousse. Lots of lemon, lime and bitterness on the palate but plenty of dirt, earth and mushrooms on the nose. Good length and well balanced... apart from leaving a funny taste in the mouth after about a minute.
In conclusion, not bad - particularly since I was unaware there was any Cava produced in Rioja prior to this.
2. CVNE Monopole Barrel-Fermented White Rioja
Rioja DOCa 2006, £8
A very pale lemon-green colour but with a surprisingly intense nose. Lots of nuts, peach and peanut. Light bodied and quite acidic. A little unbalanced.
As is quite common when confronted with a white rioja, the main thought is "meh".
3. Lopez de Heredia, Tondonia Blanco Reserva 1987
Rioja DOCa Reserva, 1987
In true crazy Rioja style, this 1987 is not far off being the current release! Medium gold with lots of wood (American oak). Smells sweet, maybe candied almonds? Dried apricots, vanilla, honeysuckly. Despite all these aromas the wine is totally dry. Full bodied and round with a soft mouthfeel. Medium acid, quite mineralic. Long.
This wine is quite strange but very good. Generated lots of discussion and split the room quite vehemently. Most definitely not a "meh" in sight!
4. Bodegas Domeco de jaruta, Vina Marro Vendimia Selleccionada 2005
Rioja DOCa "Semi-crianza", £10
Some wood, lots of red fruit (cherries). Some green notes and something herby (mint?) Dry, medium tannin but with the tannins being quite "grippy" and rough. On the palate the main notes are red fruits. Quite short.
Good, but not particularly complex and too short
5. Lopez de Heredia, Vina Cubillo 1997
Rioja DOCa Crianza, £15.50
Starting to be a quite noticeable garnet colour. Intense tobacco, some volatile acidity (but still at a low enough level that it adds complexity rather than ruining the wine), leather, herbs (cinnamon?) violets and smoke. As is probably clear from the list of aromas above this wine was developing some serious complexity. Medium body and acid, with tannins perhaps a little too light to be in balance with the acid. More fruit on the nose than on the palate --> drink up. Which I did gladly. This was good but you wouldn't want to keep it any longer.
6. Ondarre Graciano 2005
Rioja DOCa, £11
Deep purple colour - this wine looks very young. The main tasting note I get from this wine is banoffee pie and I was so struck by the applicability of this tasting note that I struggled to get anything more sensible written down about it. To explain that rather weird tasting note I wouls point out the banana, sweet ripe fruit and nutty characters that were all pretty intense. High tannins but well structured, this wine had plenty of fruit and acid on the palate and was very young. Would benefit from a little age.
7. Ondarre, Major de Ondarre 2004
Rioja DOCa Reserva, £10.50
Not very good.
8. Campo Viejo Gran Reserva 2002
Rioja DOCa Gran Reserva, £14
Lots of oak. Rather 1-dimensional. A serious contrast to the following wine...
9. Campo Viejo, Marques de Villamagna Gran Reserva 1975
Rioja DOCa Gran Reserva, £25
This wine was the colour of a tawny port. Intense aromas - violets, sweet cherry, wet dog (amazing how some aromas coming from a good old wine can sound pretty bizarre) and nuts. Some volatile acidity (again in a good way) and leather and cinnamon. This wine was complex! Intense flavour and medium bodied on the palate. There was more noticeable wood and cigar notes on the palate than on the nose. This is a fantastic wine. It is interesting to see what type of wine Campo Viejo used to make. A generous person might put the difference between #8 and #9 down to vintage variation. A slightly more cynical person might attribute it to larger production.
10. Lopez de Heredia, Bosconia Gran Reserva 1981
Rioja DOCa Gran Reserva, £43
The colour of a 10-year old tawny port. Lots of leather and smoke on the nose. The palate is surprisingly subdued. Medium acid, medium-low tannin. Lots of secondary and tertiary notes. Plenty of complexity, "barnyard", earthy, mushrooms. The flavour of the wine is sadly too short - it fades to just being acidity very quickly.
Quite an interesting wine this. Had the tasting not included #9 this would have been the most interesting wine of the night. I personally preferred the previous wine to this one; however, this final wine generated by far the most discussion of any of the wines this evening with others finding it their favourite wine.
Epilogue
The first of what will hopefully be many such "audience participation" endings to Bacchus Vintage tastings. At the end of the previous tasting we asked if there was anyone who is interested in presenting a couple of wines to the group at the end of a tasting. It's a great way to get some experience of presenting wines to the group without having to organise an entire tasting yourself.
This first one was led by Mike Hinton and the two wines he presented were two of the Rupert and Rothschild wines from South Africa.
11. Rupert and Rothschild Classique 2005
Franschoeck, Paarl, South Africa, £12
A deep ruby colour. Intense nose of red cherries (but bitter and perhaps slightly unripe cherries), vanilla and some leafy notes. Quite dusty on the palate with plenty of oak showing through. The fruit notes on the palate are definitely on the black-fruit side rather than red fruit. High acid and tannin and medium-high bodied. Well balanced. Very young - particularly in comparison to the previous ancient rioja!
12. Rupert and Rothschild, Baron Edmund 2004
Franschoeck, Paarl, South Africa, £26
Opaque and ruby with slight hints of garnet coming through on the rim. Smoky, tarry nose with intese black fruits. Intense, full-bodied and brooding with the tar and black fruit really coming through on the palate also. High tannin. Very extracted. The flavour lasts for a long time. Again, very young and will probably benefit more from age than the previous wine.
This wine was very good and a serious step up from the (perfectly acceptable) Classique.
Wines of Rioja
The second of our tutored tastings, this time led by Adam Dent. The first 10 wines were a tutored tasting of wines from the Rioja region. Then we had the first of our audience participation epilogues which was led by Mike Hinton.
1. Ondarre Cava Brut NV
Cava DO, £10
Clear pale gold with a restrained mousse. Lots of lemon, lime and bitterness on the palate but plenty of dirt, earth and mushrooms on the nose. Good length and well balanced... apart from leaving a funny taste in the mouth after about a minute.
In conclusion, not bad - particularly since I was unaware there was any Cava produced in Rioja prior to this.
2. CVNE Monopole Barrel-Fermented White Rioja
Rioja DOCa 2006, £8
A very pale lemon-green colour but with a surprisingly intense nose. Lots of nuts, peach and peanut. Light bodied and quite acidic. A little unbalanced.
As is quite common when confronted with a white rioja, the main thought is "meh".
3. Lopez de Heredia, Tondonia Blanco Reserva 1987
Rioja DOCa Reserva, 1987
In true crazy Rioja style, this 1987 is not far off being the current release! Medium gold with lots of wood (American oak). Smells sweet, maybe candied almonds? Dried apricots, vanilla, honeysuckly. Despite all these aromas the wine is totally dry. Full bodied and round with a soft mouthfeel. Medium acid, quite mineralic. Long.
This wine is quite strange but very good. Generated lots of discussion and split the room quite vehemently. Most definitely not a "meh" in sight!
4. Bodegas Domeco de jaruta, Vina Marro Vendimia Selleccionada 2005
Rioja DOCa "Semi-crianza", £10
Some wood, lots of red fruit (cherries). Some green notes and something herby (mint?) Dry, medium tannin but with the tannins being quite "grippy" and rough. On the palate the main notes are red fruits. Quite short.
Good, but not particularly complex and too short
5. Lopez de Heredia, Vina Cubillo 1997
Rioja DOCa Crianza, £15.50
Starting to be a quite noticeable garnet colour. Intense tobacco, some volatile acidity (but still at a low enough level that it adds complexity rather than ruining the wine), leather, herbs (cinnamon?) violets and smoke. As is probably clear from the list of aromas above this wine was developing some serious complexity. Medium body and acid, with tannins perhaps a little too light to be in balance with the acid. More fruit on the nose than on the palate --> drink up. Which I did gladly. This was good but you wouldn't want to keep it any longer.
6. Ondarre Graciano 2005
Rioja DOCa, £11
Deep purple colour - this wine looks very young. The main tasting note I get from this wine is banoffee pie and I was so struck by the applicability of this tasting note that I struggled to get anything more sensible written down about it. To explain that rather weird tasting note I wouls point out the banana, sweet ripe fruit and nutty characters that were all pretty intense. High tannins but well structured, this wine had plenty of fruit and acid on the palate and was very young. Would benefit from a little age.
7. Ondarre, Major de Ondarre 2004
Rioja DOCa Reserva, £10.50
Not very good.
8. Campo Viejo Gran Reserva 2002
Rioja DOCa Gran Reserva, £14
Lots of oak. Rather 1-dimensional. A serious contrast to the following wine...
9. Campo Viejo, Marques de Villamagna Gran Reserva 1975
Rioja DOCa Gran Reserva, £25
This wine was the colour of a tawny port. Intense aromas - violets, sweet cherry, wet dog (amazing how some aromas coming from a good old wine can sound pretty bizarre) and nuts. Some volatile acidity (again in a good way) and leather and cinnamon. This wine was complex! Intense flavour and medium bodied on the palate. There was more noticeable wood and cigar notes on the palate than on the nose. This is a fantastic wine. It is interesting to see what type of wine Campo Viejo used to make. A generous person might put the difference between #8 and #9 down to vintage variation. A slightly more cynical person might attribute it to larger production.
10. Lopez de Heredia, Bosconia Gran Reserva 1981
Rioja DOCa Gran Reserva, £43
The colour of a 10-year old tawny port. Lots of leather and smoke on the nose. The palate is surprisingly subdued. Medium acid, medium-low tannin. Lots of secondary and tertiary notes. Plenty of complexity, "barnyard", earthy, mushrooms. The flavour of the wine is sadly too short - it fades to just being acidity very quickly.
Quite an interesting wine this. Had the tasting not included #9 this would have been the most interesting wine of the night. I personally preferred the previous wine to this one; however, this final wine generated by far the most discussion of any of the wines this evening with others finding it their favourite wine.
Epilogue
The first of what will hopefully be many such "audience participation" endings to Bacchus Vintage tastings. At the end of the previous tasting we asked if there was anyone who is interested in presenting a couple of wines to the group at the end of a tasting. It's a great way to get some experience of presenting wines to the group without having to organise an entire tasting yourself.
This first one was led by Mike Hinton and the two wines he presented were two of the Rupert and Rothschild wines from South Africa.
11. Rupert and Rothschild Classique 2005
Franschoeck, Paarl, South Africa, £12
A deep ruby colour. Intense nose of red cherries (but bitter and perhaps slightly unripe cherries), vanilla and some leafy notes. Quite dusty on the palate with plenty of oak showing through. The fruit notes on the palate are definitely on the black-fruit side rather than red fruit. High acid and tannin and medium-high bodied. Well balanced. Very young - particularly in comparison to the previous ancient rioja!
12. Rupert and Rothschild, Baron Edmund 2004
Franschoeck, Paarl, South Africa, £26
Opaque and ruby with slight hints of garnet coming through on the rim. Smoky, tarry nose with intese black fruits. Intense, full-bodied and brooding with the tar and black fruit really coming through on the palate also. High tannin. Very extracted. The flavour lasts for a long time. Again, very young and will probably benefit more from age than the previous wine.
This wine was very good and a serious step up from the (perfectly acceptable) Classique.
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