First Tasting of 2010

Good evening! Tonight I am here with my friend Palamedes, with a most interesting tasting of Spanish wines from less-well-known DOs (that is, for those of us that do not live in Spain).

The first wine we will taste is a Dehesa La Granja 1999. This wine comes from Zamora, in La Mancha, Spain and it belongs to the Castilla-Leon DO. The wine is produced by Fernandez Rivera winery. The wine is made with Tempranillo grapes, 100% and has 24 months of oak cask ageing and is now 11 years old (yes, we can still count. It is still early).The colour of the wine, as expected, has some earthy tones on the fringes. We don´t detect a lot of grassitude in the wine, with tears that are not wide and that slide on the side of the glass. In nose, although the wine is still closed, we can feel a bit of leather. The first tasting of the wine indicates a light attack, a light middle and a short aftertaste. In mouth, the wine feels alcoholic and tannic, with significant levels of structure but not sufficient "meat".

The second wine is Gelbenzu EVO 2002. This wine comes from Ribera del Queiles. The wine is produced by winery Hijos de Gelbenzu. The wine is an assemblage of Cabernet Sauvignon 55%, 12% Tempranillo and 32% Merlot. The wine has 12 months of oak cask ageing. The colour of the wine is more ruby than the tempranillo, less dark. We observe little "gras" in the wine. The wine gives out only very few aromas. In mouth, unexciting: a bit acidic, no aftertaste, not velvety at all despite the presence of the Merlot. The wine, however, seems to have had some storage problem, so we will not judge it based on this bottle.

The third wine we will taste tonight is a Estola Gran Reserva 1999, made by Ayuso winery. This wine comes from Villarobledo, La Mancha. The wine is an assemblage of 65% Tempranillo and 35% Cabernet Sauvignon.About the ageing, we are not sure whether the wine has 36 months of oak cask (not new ones). The colour is ruby, with a darker hue. There is some glycerin, but not a lot. The aroma is predominantly mineral, with a hint of pepper and peaches or apples. The attack is noticeable but not violent. What clearly predominates is the middle of the wine, with is satisfactorily round and velvety. There is some astrigence, surely due to the CS, and some aftertaste. The taste of red fruit is quite noticeable, with a note of peaches.

The second tasting of the La Granja shows more marked indications of leather aromas, less mineral and a slight indicaiton of animal aromas. The middle of the wine has improved in the time since opening it, with more complex flavours, including leather. It is not fruity at all. The wine has improved significantly with oxygenation.

The second tasting of the Estola maintains the fruity flavour, with complex combinations of red fruit and peaches. There are tannins present, but they are only a ¨"touch", not at all dominant.

It is quite annoying the greedyness of some wine shops, who sell wine bottles that are not in optimum conditions. That is the case of the Guelbenzu we were going to try tonight. Unfortunately, some people does not have neither professionalism nor decency. Shame on them!

And now, goodbye. As always, remember:
IN VINO, VERITAS!

Carmenère vs. Malbec: A Clash of Titans

Here we are, after a VERY short delay, with our largest (published) tasting so far. This time, we are drinking five different wines, which again come from South America. This tasting is taking place in the back office of a friend who has a fantastic wine shop. While I write this, both him and Horace are already making themselves acquainted with a fine selection of cheeses that I am also looking forward to trying....

The first wine is a bottle of Hacienda Araucano Carmenere Reserva 2006, from the Colchagua Valley in Chile. We could not find out how much wood the wine has from looking into the website of Lurton wines.

In the nose, we perceive a hint of apricots and leather, a hint of pepper. In the mouth, the attack is soft, with a round and pleasant middle. There are notes of leather and tobacco. The alcohol and the tannins are well balanced. The wine is delicately complex.

I also have to add that, given its price, this wine is very good value for money. Another good thing is that the wine can be drunk now.

The second wine is a Séptima Los Pasos 2005 Malbec. This wine has 20 months of new oak cask aging and comes from Agrelo, in Mendoza province, Argentina.

At the first tasting it is still closed, but we can tell the large amount of wood in nose. There are some hints of chocolate, but it needs more time in the decanter. This wine is a good candidate to be aged for several more years, as it has the potential for a significant improvement with time.

The third wine is a Luigi Bosca Malbec DOC (Denomination of Origin) 2001. This wine was aged for 14 months in oak casks and comes from Lujan de Cuyo in Mendoza Province, Argentina.

In the nose, blackberries, dark fruit, prunes and mermalades are quite distinctive. Also, dry nuts and leather. In the mouth, the wine has an intense punch of full flavour, with a generous middle and an extremely long finish. A wine made in the traditional style of malbec, which we are also drinking at the right time, although it has the potential to keep a few more years. 


The Fourth wine is a Botalcura La Porfía Carmenere Gran Reserva 2006, from the Rapel valley in Chile. This wine was aged in American and French oak for 12 months.

In the nose, fine herbs, mint and eucaliptus, plus a variety of complex aromas. In the palate, the wine is balanced, with mint and chocolate notes, very balanced, long in the mouth, with velvet and a round finish. It must be noted that the style of this wine is different from the Hacienda Araucano, especially in terms of its intensity.

The last wine is a Lurton Piedra Negra 2002 malbec, from the Uco Valley in Mendoza province, Argentina.This wine (like the Hacienda Araucano) is also made by the Lurton family, which makes wines in different countries including France, Chile and Argentina.

In the nose, the aroma allows us to detect  a strong animal smell and leather. In the mouth, the wine is balanced, aromatic and full bodied, with a pleasant finish. Notes of marine salt, sulfur and other minerals are present, while, on a second level, blackberries, and smoke can also be detected. This interesting wine also has substantial aging potential. 

Now, let's see how the wines fare on our second tasting of each of them.

The second tasting of the Hacienda Araucano allows us to confirm the presence of chocolate and it reveals a bit of herbs in the nose.


The second tasting of the Septima shows notes of smoke and marmalades in the nose. The taste is gentle, caramell-like. It melds in the mouth. There is confiture of strawberries.After several hour of opening it, finally this wine is starting to reveal its secrets.

The second tasting of the Luigi Bosca reveals to the nose prunes, blackberries and a tad of chocolate and on a second or third level, cinnamon. In mouth, cinnamon and licorice, as well as a deep velvet of complex flavours of wood and a complex bouquet.

The second tasting of the Botalcura confirms the impression of an excellent representative of top-quality carmenere.

The second tasting of the Piedra Negra mantains the same characteristics: animal smells, leather and chocolate, as well as smoke. An amazing wine overall. Really, a pleasure to try this wine.

As all the wines are fantastic, we have decided not to grade them, as it would be unfair to some of them. Maybe on a future tasting we can bring together some more similar wines that will allow us to draw comparisons, but not tonight. Therefore, I will now sign of and help my friends with the draining of the decanters and cleaning up the cheese plates.....

IN VINO, VERITAS!

Syrah New World Style

After a long break in our (recorded, that is :)) wine tastings, here we are back with my friend Horace and two more friends, once again upon the breach, sort of....

Tonight, we shall try three wines made exclusively with the syrah (or shiraz) grape.

The first one is a Trapiche Syrah colección roble 2004, which is a mid-range wine made by the large Trapiche winery of Argentina. This wine, which costs some 4 pounds sterling, is made in the Mendoza province of Argentina. We could not establish how
much time the wine was in contact with wood, as there were no references to this either in the label or in the website of the firm.

The first impression of the wine is its smell of raspsberries and leather. In the mouth, you can taste pepper, and feel the balanced tannins of the wine. We must say at this stage that the wine has been opened only for an hour or so, so it still feels "closed".

The second one we are trying is a Familia Gascon Reserva Syrah 2007. This wine is made by Bodega Escorihuela Gascón in Mendoza Province, in Argentina. According to the bottle, the wine has been aged in oak casks for 10 months.

In nose, the wine is not very expressive and is difficult to perceive distinctive smells over the alcohol. When tasting the wine, it is difficult to taste or smell the wood in it. One might think that the wood used had already been used many times before. The wine is also overall quite acid, not very well balanced.

The third wine we are tasting is a Cremaschi furlotti Reserva Syrah 2006. This wine comes from the Maule valley in Chile. According to the website of the firm, 50% of the wine was aged in oak casks for 8 months.

In nose, the bouquet is predominantly chocolate and leather, with a small scent of vainilla. The taste is soft, with round tannins and a good balance. It is less atrigent than the Trapiche, the wood is noticeable but melds with the fruit of the wine.The attack is soft, the middle is gentle and interesting but it almost completely lacks a finish.


Now, the second tasting round of the same wines.

In the second tasting of the Trapiche, in nose it feels less alcoholic. The dark fruit is still very much present, there's more wood and vanilla, and it feels more open and interesting. It has only a feeble attack, the middle is light and fleeting, and the aprés is elegant and persistent, with pepper. However, there is less pepper present in comparison with the first tasting. The tannins are quite noticeable
In the second tasting of the Familia Gascón, the wine has not improved. It is difficult to believe that it has any wood. We all concur that we expected more out of this wine when we bought it.
The second tasting of the Cremaschi contributes little to what we said before, only that the balance of the wine is nice, but there is much less power and interest than other syrahs we have tried in the past.


The overall grades for these wines are:
The Trapiche: 3,5 out of 5 possible points
The Famila Gascón: 2 out of 5
The Cremaschi Furlotti: 3 out of 5.

Given that the average price of this wines was around 4 or 5 pounds, the first and the third are value for money, not so the second.

In vino, veritas!

Wine Duel of Classic, Old Wines Reloaded

The last wine tasting of the year!. Tonight, December 30th 2008, with my friend Horace we will witness an unusual wine duel, between two old Argentine syrah varietals. On the red corner we have a Viña el Cerno Syrah vintage 1999, and on the blue corner, we have a Trapiche Syrah vintage 1996. Both wines hail from Maipú in the Mendoza province of Argentina. The most traditional wine region of that  country. Trapiche is a large and old winery, with substantial exports these days. We have less information on the other winery, but it seems to be a small, family-owned winery.

A peculiarity of this tasting is that the Trapiche came in a very unusual 500 ml bottle. I have no idea why the winery at the time (and for several years, at least) decided to bottle this syrah wine in such small bottles. Marketing gimmick, maybe?

After an hour of having opened both bottles and decanted them, we start with the Viña el Cerno. In nose, the bouquet smells alcoholic and old wood. No vanilla or fruit at all. Now, the tasting. The wine is still closed. What we can perceive is that the attack is very soft, while the middle and the finish are interesting in that the taste does linger, but not too much. This wine is quite unlike many strong, full-bodied shiraz wines I have had from Australia in the past, and which are often the reference point to which we compare good syrah (and we try not to drink bad ones!). The wine we are drinking tonight is a different type of syrah. Very mellow, very tame. It most certainly does not have the structure of the blends we tasted last week. This wine is interesting, among other things, in that it has been made in the classic style, with a lot of wood and most likely with aging in large oak casks (rather than small 228 l ones of more modern wines).

Horace says, and I concur, that the Argentine shyrah wines we have had in the past seem in general to be much milder in character compared to the full-force of good Australian shiraz wines (e.g. Mount Ida).

Now, the Trapiche. In nose, it is noticeable the wood, it smells less of alcohol and in the bouquet there is some smell that is a cross between leather and bone. The aroma is really delicious. Tasting it, the attack is very soft, the middle is much denser than the other one, and it has some very mature fruit. Not that the wine is “fruity”, of course. When the finish fades away, you can feel the complex flavour of the wine on the walls of the throat.

The second glass of the Viña el Cerno shows a stronger middle, full of of wood. So much so that it saturates the senses. Leaving the wine for a while in the mouth leads to a sensation of astringency that is unlike other syrahs I've had in the past.

These syrah wines are so unlike other wines made with the same grape variety that is is difficult to think these wines gaining wide acceptance today as syrah varietals. Not only because of the emphasis on old wood, but also due to the difference of taste vis a vis other, more full-bodied wines made with the syrah grape.

The second glass of the Trapiche shows a noticeable change in terms of bouquet. The aroma has a complexity that the previous glasses did not have. For example, we can now smell almonds or pistachos....more likely the latter. Additionally, the finish of this second glass is even more marked, with a progression to the mid-upper level of the mouth.

At the third glasses, there are few points to add. What is clear, though, is that both wines complement each other almost perfectly, as one of them has a very potent and full middle, while the other one has a complex and persistent finish and a complex bouquet. The only missing point is more structure maybe a more complex bouquet at the Viña el Cerno.

All in all, a fantastic end to this year of Our Lord 2008. Happy new year to all of you out there!

In Vino, Veritas!

Wine Duel of Classic, Old Wines I

Tonight, on the evening of Christmas 2008 (merry Christmas to all of you, by the way!) my friend Horace and me decided to taste two interesting blends, traditionally-made wines. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Malbec for one and Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc for the other one. These wines, however, are no fruity stuff like the ones some wine “gurus” routinely push for, but “classic” wines, with plenty of oak (not all of it new).

One of the wines is a typical Bordeaux: Chateau L'Escart Bordeaux Superieure vintage 1996. I have had this bottle for several years. Apparently, it won a Medaille d'Or prize in the Concours d'Aquitaine in 1998. The other one is a much newer wine, one of the top wines of excellent argentine winery Nieto y Senetiner. With my friend Horace, we still remember drinking several years ago some fantastic, ancient wines from the same winery, vintage 1982, sold under the Santa Isabel brand. The wine we are drinking tonight is a Don Nicanor blend vintage 2006.

Now, the corks. The corks of both are good, but not of the best quality. Both have several imperfections, although both are made of one single piece of cork. Not any “modern” screw-tops here. Not for wines that have aged or can age for more than a decade. The concept of screw-tops might be very fashionable, “New World” (and go quite a long way towards improving the bottom lines of more than one Australian or American winery, as they are significantly cheaper than natural cork), but no amount of sleek marketing is going to “sell” the concept to people who knows about the advantages of natural cork. Good ol'cork will ALWAYS be better for the micro-oxygenation that these beauties need in their long life spans. Wine is a live thing that needs to breath. Of course, plastic corks or screw-tops are OK for young wines that are not expected to age.

The first impression of a closed Don Nicanor says little in terms of bouquet: we have just opened it some 30' ago. The colour is ruby, with violet shades that probably come from the malbec in it. However, the taste is very powerful. The wine has structure, but it does not have a powerful attack. The middle is round although not too fleshy and it has a very long finish that is most enjoyable. Well balanced, smooth and well proportioned.

Interestingly, this Don Nicanor seems to be older that it is. Now it is some two hours since we opened it and it has opened more (although not fully). The wine seems to have become more mellow and sweet in the mouth, especially the crucial middle. And the finish of the wine continues to make you want to drink more of it. We find it more astringent on the upper part of the mouth rather than the lower part.

The Chateau L'Escart has a topaz colour, which does not show its age (12 years) as much as one would expect (from past experience with other ancient wines). It has that beautiful, never forgotten aroma of old wines, woody but not the strong vanilla of new oak casks. The attack is very soft. The middle is astringent, given the age of the wine, but not fleshy or round. It also has that difficult-to-describe taste of old wines which is related to the time spent in the bottle, slowly oxidising. The one problem with this wine is that it goes down like water. It is so easy to drink. Which quite a lot to say for a wine with so much Cabernet Sauvignon in it.

One conclusion that we agree on with Horace is that the Don Nicanor, although good to drink now, will improve substantially with time. We would give it some five more years. The aging potential of this wine is, we believe, substantially longer, though. Ten years at the very least.

Second glass of the L'Escart. The bouquet, now two hours and a half since opening, is extremely complex, with notes of tobacco and leather. The taste is even better, blows your mind and the rest away. Intense, the taste of the middle is hypnotising. That's the thing to regret about these wines: you have too few bottles of them!. In my case, only one. It was a gift from a friend of mine many years ago, and I don't remember who gave it to me , but THANKS!!!. PLEASE, BRING MORE BOTTLES!!!!.

At the beginning, when we first started to drink both wines, the Don Nicanor made an excellent showing, but now, after being given time to open, the L'Escart is killing the other one. Ok, let's be honest, it is NOT a fair fight. And we think that the Don Nicanor, given some 5-7 years will be able to take on quite a few excellent wines.

Another interesting point is the alcohol difference between both wines. The Don Nicanor has 14% alcohol and it does smell more alcoholic at this third glass we are having now. Much more than the 12,5% alcohol of the L'Escart. Of late, however, I've read that the weather change in Bordeaux due to global warming seems to be leading to more sun and more alcohol in more recent wines produced in the region. If this is true, in the future newer versions of this wine may not be comparable to the older ones, for obvious reasons.

The third glass of Don Nicanor feels very powerful after the milder L'Escart. Another thing is that it tastes less woody, and more fruity. My friend Horace tells me that this wine duel reminds him of a classic, never forgotten duel we made ten years ago of a Rodas Du Valle 1986 against a Martins Cab. Sauv. 1983, both from Argentina and now almost impossible to find. Well, almost: I have two bottles left of the latter in my wine cellar!

Well, the wine is coming to an end. We are down to the last glasses of each one of the two jewels we have had the luck to enjoy tonight. Wine is a work of art that you only enjoy once. Imagine watching the Mona Lisa only once. Disturbing, isn't it? Well, that's how I feel right now, knowing that I will NEVER again try this wine, as this is probably the last bottle of it I will ever try. So, we will make the best of this glass. Cheers, mates!

IN VINO, VERITAS!

Chauteneauf-du-Pape Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe "La Crau"

Tonight we are tasting a very interesting wine, one that I've had for several years: a Chateauneuf-du-Pape Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe 1997 "La Crau". This was a gift from a good friend of mine, around 2001.

After opening the bottle, we decanted the wine for a while and started tasting. The first two tries were rather dissapointing, as the wine had clearly not "opened" yet. After some two hours, the wine clearly starting some signs of life.

The wine contains some very deep aromas in nose (I used a relatively new Riedel Overture glass rather than my 12-year old, miraculously surviving Riedel Shyrah glass), slowly suggesting a dry wood smell. In nose, the wine is very aromatic, unlike some other Chateneufs I've tried (like the Tesco's selection I tried in early January in London). The smell is clearly intoxicating in its complexity and deepness. A true breathtaking experience.

To the eye, the colour of the wine is intriguing. Without showing the yellowish terracotta shade of some old Riojas, the orange and red tonalities of of this wine's terracota shades clearly show the aging that this wine has lived through.

The attack of the wine is potent, as should be expected of this clearly Grenache-intensive, rustic wine.

The middle of the wine leaves a viscous impression, foreseen in the strength of the legs in the glass.

The alcohol content, at 14%, is not to to be ignored, and it tends to dull the mouth after a few glasses.

The finish of the wine is light, but perceivable. It leaves a very pleasant sensation in the throat. Not the unctuous sensation of other heavier, old wines, but very interesting anyway.

All in all, an excellent wine, drunk at the right time. I will remember to thank the friend who gave it to me the next time I talk to him.

In Vino, Veritas

I Started to Blog

My first blog. We will see how it all goes.