2002 Marqués de Cáceres Rioja Reserva

I picked up 2 bottles of these back in 2009 already with a bit of bottle age on them. According to my notes I paid $35 a bottle for them, so with the age and the price I was expecting something pretty interesting and I paired them with a nice home cooked dinner and a good friend.

I was quite taken by the BBC series (shown here in Australia on SBS) Two Greedy Italians. Chefs Antonio Carluccio and Gennaro Contaldo aren’t really Italian, but they are Australians who were born in Italy. In this series they return home to cook local meals and meals from their childhood. So for dinner last night I prepared polenta with slow cooked family stew. While probably not the most inspiring name, the food was great. You can download the recipe here (http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/slow-cooked_family_stew_33263). While at the BBC site, I downloaded this recipe and also made the Lemon and Ricotta Tart (http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/lemon_and_ricotta_tart_44080). I didn’t have any Juniper berries, so I just added a little extra Rosemary (fresh from the garden) and I cooked the stewfor close to 5 hours until the meat was absolutely tender.

Slow Cooked Stew and Polenta

But back to the wine. The 2002 Marqués de Cáceres Rioja Reserva is a blend of 85% Tempranillo and 15% Garnacha Tinta and Graciano. They seem to sell their stock only after 5 or 6 years bottle age (which accounts for how I bought this 2002 vintage in 2009). The cork was almost brand new and the wine pour bright red despite its age. It started tight (served at 15 degrees) and tasted of dried fruits, tobacco and vanilla oak. It was soft and smooth with tannins that may have been improved by better quality oak. At $35 I didn’t find great value, but on some international wine sites I’ve seen this for close to the $20 mark and at this price it holds more appeal.

I have one bottle left in the cellar. I’ll probably try it with a simpler dish and with plenty of time to breath.

2002 Marqués de Cáceres Rioja Reserva

Here’s some other notes I’ve found:

winemaker’s notes:

Dark, ruby red color. Dense bouquet combining toasted notes, tobacco and a hint of spice. Good structure with nice complexity in the mouth where mature fruit flavors give way to a touch of roasted coffee, chocolate and sweet spice. A wine full of character that reflects its noble origin.

A splendid bottle to marry with savoury fish dishes such as fresh tuna in spicy tomato sauce, refined delicatessen products (chorizo, salami), all kinds of beef (roasted, stewed or grilled), foie gras, duck, partridge, game and mature cheese.   alcohol by volume: 13.0%

Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar write :

Bright red. Complex bouquet of dried strawberry, cherry, rose and cured tobacco. Spicy cherry and red berry flavors are sweetened by a faint vanilla quality and show no rough edges or tannins. Attractively sweet and silky Rioja with good finishing breadth and clinging notes of strawberry and dried flowers. This is ready to drink and will be ideal with spicy lamb dishes.

Some other brief notes :

Air, air, air! – A pour through the Vinturi + 20 minutes in the decanter was not enough. Give it an hour or so and it will really open up, very much enjoyed this (especially for the price), although I also still prefer the 2001.

While non-offensive, we found to be a bit boring. Probably would be a great sub $20 for a dinner party involving rich beef dishes, but for a more intimate setting where wine is the focus would not suggest.

Great balance which stayed all the way through to the aftertaste. currants and subtle cherry, medium body with ruby red colour.

 

 

2009 Vinícola Corellana Navarra Vina Zorzal Graciano

In continuing my mission to taste wines of unusual or rare grape varieties (unusual or rare to me at least) I came across this Graciano of all places in a Cellarmasters mixed dozen. Don’t turn off – I know they’re normally a very vertical and Australian only wine distributor, but this was the first foreign dozen I’ve seen them produce. Mind you I haven’t been getting their catalog for ages.

The dozen came with a couple of french wines, some italian and this spanish beauty. So sticking with Cellarmasters tradition – they didn’t vary too much from the tried and true old world traditions, but it did round out some holes in the cellar.

Vinicola Corellana is located in the heart of Navarra’s Ribera Baja region, in the centuries-old village of Corella and the wine itself is made from 30+year-old vines located in the Ombatillo district in Corella.

VIÑA ZORZAL GRACIANO is a singular wine with a distinct concept. It is the product of two generations of the Sanz family’s deep respect for traditional winemaking,
combined with their firm commitment to reclaiming grapes native to Navarra, such as the superb, low-yield Graciano. Ecologically sound methods were employed in every
phase of the winemaking process.

Cellar tracker says : What is Graciano? It is the local patron grape of this region (Navarra) – a stylistic cross between Gamay and Cabernet Franc with a tannic, dark red Loire-like/low-alcohol persona that seems to be completely at odds with the current commercial notion of what Spain means for red wine. Often used in the longest-lived Reserva wines (especially in Rioja), Graciano can have the uncanny ability to age and I would also add a dash of artisinal Margaux in for comparison. While there are plenty of obtuse, over-ripe and highly alcoholic marketing creations in Spain at the present (a la Australia circa year 2003), what we are enlightened with today is completely the opposite – this is the other side of the fence in Spain – one of terroir focused, fresh and penetrating red wine that is still broad shouldered but is so much more than oak chips and sauce.

2009 Vinícola Corellana Navarra Vina Zorzal Graciano

The wine is straight forward, rustic, deep and simple. We had two bottles of this over a few nights and this really shone after a night in the fridge. So next time I would recommend a bit of air and time for the wine to open up. We drank it with spaghetti bolognese and it was an ideal match. I’m not sure how hard this would be to find or how expensive it would be if not part of a mixed dozen. I’m not sure I’d go out of my way to track down another one, but this bottle was certainly enjoyable enough. If I had kept one of the two bottles, I would be putting it down for a couple more years to let the tannins do their work.

2006 Vintage Cellars Chalkboard Navarra Tempranillo

2006 Vintage Cellars Chalkboard Navarra Tempranillo

What to drink with thick homemade vegetable soup? With the first of the winter winds starting to bite on the New South Wales coast, it was time for the first soup of the season. For some reason soup always causes me grief in choosing a wine to go with it. But I thought something meditteranean, not too fancy, just a nice homely everyday quaffer.

This 2006 Vintage Cellars Chalkboard Navarra Tempranillo did the trick nicely and despite being a no name cheapy (less than $10 a bottle from Vintage Cellars if my memory serves me correctly) this is a pleasant drop. It’s not quite your top shelf Rioja, but it’s got plenty of dark fruit, fine tannins and I don’t believe 5 years or so in the bottle did it any harm at all, but I probably wouldn’t keep it any longer. For a well made, easy going red with 5 years in the bottle, this is a good buy. Check it out.

Vintage Cellars say “This is the newest international star to join the Chalkboard family. It’s a cheeky Tempranillo from Navarra in Spain made by our friends at Tandem. Fresh and full of red berry fruits, with a hint of oregano and fine, savoury tannins. It goes well with just about any food and is sure to become your favourite weeknight red.”

2009 Campo Burgo Cosecha Rioja

I first experienced Rioja at a wine tasting on Jeju Island, South Korea (of all places). I instantly fell in love with this style from Spain and the Tempranillo grape. So whenever I am looking for something a bit different I track down a bottle. This time in Dan Murphy’s I was tiring of the Bons Ventos Tinto (Red) wine (discussed elsewhere in thsi blog) although it’s still a great value everyday drop and the latest vintages of the Vintage Cellars Chote du Rhone weren’t up to scratch and seemed to be lighter in style.

So with that background I picked up a bottle of the 2009 Campo Burgo Cosecha Rioja at about $9. And … it’s a cracker. It’s a fairly basic wine. According to Wikipedia “Rioja red wines are classified into four categories. The first, simply labeled “Rioja,” is the youngest, spending less than a year in an oak aging barrel. A “crianza” is wine aged for at least two years, at least one of which was in oak. “Rioja Reserva” is aged for at least three years, of which at least one year is in oak. Finally, “Rioja Gran Reserva” wines have been aged at least two years in oak and three years in bottle.” And this is just a Rioja, but for everyday there’s enough complexity and interest to keep things lively yet there’s enough fine grained tannins to see this age for a few years in the cellar. Maybe until 2015 or so. But don’t wait. Grab a dozen or so and enjoy it daily for good health. 45 million Spaniards can’t be wrong!

What food does it go with? I reckon anything with garlic. We had some lamb steaks with a touch of garlic and the earthy red wine brought out the magnificent flavours. We had a salad of cous cous, red onion, beans, homegrown parsley which all let the wine deliver its goods. The more peasant style the food, the better the wine will match.

Dan Murphy’s only has a brief note about this wine. They say “Rioja’s Campo Burgo Tinto Cosecha, a huge hit among Dan Murphy’s customers, completes the trifecta of Tempranillo-based wines. This is a fresh fruit driven style with plenty of vinosity.”

But I’ll leave the last word to WikiPedia that have a good write up on Rioja. Some extracts follow:

Rioja is a wine, with Denominación de Origen Calificada (D.O.C. Qualified designation of origin) named after La Rioja, in Spain. Rioja is made from grapes grown not only in the Autonomous Community of La Rioja, but also in parts of Navarre and the Basque province of Álava. Rioja is further subdivided into three zones:Rioja Alta, Rioja Baja and Rioja Alavesa. Many wines have traditionally blended fruit from all three regions though there is a slow growth in single zone wines.

Among the Tintos, the best-known and most widely-used variety is Tempranillo. Other grapes used include Garnacha Tinta, Graciano, and Mazuelo. A typical blend will consist of approximately 60% Tempranillo and up to 20% Garnacha, with much smaller proportions of Mazuelo and Graciano. Each grape adds a unique component to the wine with Tempranillo contributing the main flavors and aging potential to the wine; Garnacha adding body and alcohol; Mazuelo adding seasoning flavors and Graciano adding additional aromas.

A distinct characteristic of Rioja wine is the effect of oak aging. First introduced in the early 18th century by Bordeaux influenced winemakers, the use of oak and the pronounced vanilla flavors in the wines has been a virtual trademark of the region though some modern winemakers are experimenting with making wines less influenced by oak. Originally French oak was used but as the cost of the barrels increased many bodegas began to buy American oak planks and fashion them into barrels at Spanish cooperages in a style more closely resembling the French method. This included hand splitting the wood, rather than sawing, and allowing the planks time to dry and “season” in the outdoors versus drying in the kiln.[8] In recent times, more bodegas have begun using French oak and many will age wines in both American and French oak for blending purposes.[5]

In the past, it was not uncommon for some bodegas to age their red wines for 15-20 years or even more before their release. One notable example of this the Marqués de Murrieta which released its 1942 vintage gran reserva in 1983 after 41 years of aging. Today most bodegas have shifted their winemaking focus to wines that are ready to drink sooner with the top wines typically aging for 4-8 years prior to release though some traditionalists still age longer.

2007 Pazo de Senorans Albarino

2007 Pazo de Senorans Albarino

We had a bit of a Spanish night last night – well at least with regard to the wines. We were cooking a pasta dish using ingredients from the garden topped up with some more challenging ingredients from the supermarket. Some red onion, lemon, capers, flaked salmon, pepper and salt. Quite simple but nice on this hot Sydney evening. So I was looking for a mediteranean wine to accompany it. Although this isn’t strictly speaking near the Mediteranean Sea it’s close.

Before dinner I had a glass of left over Bons Ventos (https://nicedrop.wordpress.com/2010/09/19/2008-quinta-de-bons-ventos/) with some cheese before dinner. I still can’t get over what excellent value this wine represents. I’ve bought a couple of dozen of these over recent months and I’d got to get some more. It’s just so nice and pleasant to drink and goes easily with some much food we eat. And at Vintage Cellars it’s a bargain to boot!

But anyway, on to the main event with the pasta. Being salmon and a hot humid evening I elected for a white and chose the 2007 Pazo de Senorans Albarino. I bought it recently after falling in love with the A2O Albarino (https://nicedrop.wordpress.com/2010/09/19/2008-a2o-albarino/) and in my desire to try others I’ve not quite fulfilled my ambition of bettering the A2O experience.

But still the Pazo de Senorans opened well with a fair quality cork. It poured light and golden in to the glass and drank perfectly with the well flavoured dish. It was quite high acidity so cut through the red onion and capers and with enough body to managed the BBQ’d salamon. I couldn’t taste the apples that others were commenting upon, but maybe a couple of years in the bottle knocks this out of the wine. I could certainly taste the citrus which accompanied the lemon in the dish (we were a bit heavy handed with the lemon when cooking it.)

Some history of the wine maker is provided by Snooth “Pazo de Senorans was established in 1989 in the village of Vilanoviña, Meis lying in the middle of the vineyards of the Val do Salnés sub region of Rias Baixas. Rias Baixas is in the Galicia area of northwest Spain, bordered on to the north by the Cantabrian Sea and to the south by the Atlantic Ocean. The bodega was bought by Marisol Bueno and her husband Javier Mareque and in 1979 they began by restoring the old farm buildings with a view to producing only Albariño.”

Read more: http://www.snooth.com/wine/pazo-de-senorans-albarino-2007-1/#ixzz1ERXrfS6q

This is a good wine, but not as great (to my taste) as the A2O. But for an introduction to Albarino you wont go wrong with a bottle of two of this. If you haven’t tried Albarino before – then if you like Voignier or Verdehlo you’ll love this Spanish equivalent with a little added sunshine in every bottle!

2009 Bodegas Carchelo “C” Jumilla

If ever there’s an example of what air and time does to wine, this has got to be it. I picked up a bottle of this Spanish blend (40% Monastrell from La Pinosa Estate, 40% Tempranillo from Herrada del Tollo Estate and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon again from La Pinosa Estate) a month or two back.

It opened from a dark green bottle with a composite cork and poured deep ruby red quickly becoming inky purple in the glass. “Here comes a big red wine” I thought which was confirmed after reading the label and noting the 14% alcohol. I don’t know what I was expecting, maybe a softer Rioja, something well balanced perhaps? But instead I got a raw mouthful of cherry pits and an almost astringent bitter experience.

But atfer dinner, and only after dinner, did it start to open up and I ended up enjoying the last glass much more than the first. I’m not sure I’d put too many of these in the cellar and I wont rush out to buy another bottle (I paid $19 at Dan Murphys). But if you have any of these tucked away I’d suggest giving them a few more years in the cellar to make up for the lack of oak in the winemaking and definitely decant, aerate or let sit for an hour or so before serving.

2009 Bodegas Carchelo "C" Jumilla

Other reviewers have said:

“Sweet herby, minerally, spicy edge to the lush, sweet raspberry and cherry fruit nose Very seductive. The palate shows lovely spicy, minerally definition to the sweet fruit. Lovely purity of fruit, unencumbered by oak (it spends just 2 months in French oak). 89/100 (£8.99 Oddbins)”

This Bodegas Carchelo 2009 comes in an opaque purple color. The nose offers hints of cherries, licorice and dark chocolate. The nicely focused bitter cherry and mint flavors pick up smoky and peppery qualities in the middle palate. This red wine finishes with a good cut and a lingering note of cherry pits.

DECANTER — “Wine of the Week”. Aug. 2009.

5 Stars – Top 10 Picnic Wines”

Wine Spectator. 2009-11-30: 83 points.

Josh Raynolds, International Wine Cellar, Sep 17, 2009: 88 points

Real Wine Guide. Japan “Wine of the Summer”

2008 Bodegas Martin Codax Burgans Albarino Rias Baixas

Regular readers of this blog might recall I discovered Albarino after reading about it in an edition of Australian Gourmet Traveller Wine (GTW) about mid way through 2010. So far I’ve tried the A2O (https://nicedrop.wordpress.com/2010/09/19/2008-a2o-albarino/) which was full of flavour, $30 and a real treat. Then I tried the Valminor (https://nicedrop.wordpress.com/2010/12/23/2009-valminor-albarino/) which was more elegant but lacked a certain flair that I thought the A2O demonstrated.

In a booklet provided by Gourmet Traveller Wine with the most recent edition that listed 200 European wines for $50 and under, the 2008 Bodegas Martin Codax Burgans Albarino Rias Baixas was listed at 93 points and the top scoring Light Bodied and Fragrant wines under $20. Coincidentally my local Vintage Cellars had a few bottles of the wine available for $14 a bottle (http://www.vintagecellars.com.au/scripts/wc.dll?product&keyword=albarino&part=50894). So I picked up half a dozen, put a couple in the fridge ready for the right meal.

That was last night. A sweet curry with rice seemed like an unusual but suitable match, especially given I first enjoyed the A2O with an Indian curry.

Here’s what Vintage Cellars has to say about the wine:

“Albariño is a lighter fragrant white from the north-west coast of Spain, just above Portugal. Bright and breezy, it smells of melon fruits and sea spray. The palate’s easy, crisp and refreshing, honeysuckle and stone-fruit flavours, dry and refreshing. 90/100. “PENGUIN BEST IMPORTED WHITE WINE” Nick Stock – The Penguin Good Australian Wine Guide 2009

“A good introduction to this Spanish grape, this shows tropical and peach fruit on the nose and palate, with a touch of mineral and a crisp finish. Try it with seafood or tapas. 91/100.” Mike Frost, Courier Mail 29/12/09

Earthy, but not in a sloppy, mucky way, this real albarino truly serves to prove how dumb Australia was, being conned into planting traminer instead of this grape, and then calling it savignin. This has tweaks of the radix family – radish, turnip, parsnip and ginseng – but with a pleasing cucumber juiciness to offset all those roots. Not oily and greasy like traminer/savignin, but just slightly slimy, like pinot gris, this wine also has a neat, bony acidity, with just the right amount of drying phenolics to stir a savage lust for tapas or mezes.
91 Points Independent Weekly. 12-Feb-2010

2008 Bodegas Martin Codax Burgans Albarino Rias Baixas

I found the wine to be far lighter than the A2O and it lacked the elegance of the far mor exepensive Valminor. It was fresh and clean, a lovely mid straw colour and demonstrated a complex range of flavours from citrus and florals to peaches and melons. As GTW says it is “Creamy and rich, yet delicate.”

I reckon it forms a reasonable quaffing wine that’s a bit different and if you took it to a BYO restaurant with friends, following a bit of research, it would give you something to talk about for hours. But I won’t be going too far out of my way. I think I’d prefer to pay the extra for the A2O and get the flavour hit that stands it apart from all the others I’ve tasted so far. No point putting this down in the cellar. Definitely drink it young to get the most of its freshness.

2009 Valmiñor Albariño

After the A2O Albarino (https://nicedrop.wordpress.com/2010/09/19/2008-a2o-albarino/) which I’ve raved about a fair bit on this blog, I noticed this wine on the wine list of my favourite Thai restaurant and had to give it a go. Despite the $80 price tag, I so enjoyed the A2O with the Lebanese dinner just the night before that I had to try this new wine. And you get what you pay for right?

Well maybe you do, but what I didn’t get was the mouth full of fruit that I’ve enjoyed with the A2O. I certainly couldn’t blame the wine being served too cold, because it wasn’t.

In comparison to the A2O the Valminor may have been more refined and balanced. Perhaps a more sophisticated experience. But it lacked the punch and flavours of the A2O which I was looking forward to complimenting the Thai food. So far from impressing my guest with my knowledge of world wine regions and matching wines from Spain with food from Thailand, we just ended up with another “nice” bottle of wine.

So not too much to say here. If you can get the A2O, get it over the Valminor.

2009 Valmiñor Albariño

Out of interest, here’s what the winemaker had to say “VALMIÑOR presents a yellow straw colour. On the nose, the wine shows a wide fruity range of aromas with notes of melon, apricot and grapefruit. In the mouth, it is fresh and tasty, boasting a taste of apple and fruit with elegance.” (http://www.adegasvalminor.com/en/wines/valminor-albarino/)

2008 A2O Albarino

I read about Albarino (a spanish white wine variety) in a recent edition of Gourmet Traveller Wine magazine (http://www.gourmettraveller.com.au/wine_and_drink.htm). The review was so positive (or Albarino in general, not of the A2O winery) I had to try some. I had a dinner coming up with a fellow wine drinker who over the years had introduced me to many great wine experiences. So this was my turn to repay the favour. I secured a bottle of the 2008 A2O Albarino from Dan Muphy’s and later I noticed that Vintage Cellars also stocks an Albarino.

The restaurant was Indian, so I wanted something that would cut through and the reviews in the magazine indicated that Albarino is typically loaded with fruit (exploding in the mouth was the term I recall). The A2O didn’t dissappoint. It was perfect with Indian food (Spanish wine and Indian food – only in the new world!) Although at $30 a bottle it isn’t cheap, it was flexible enough to drink with just about anything. Robust enough to accompany strong flavours and acidic enough to cut through.

This is a great white wine recommended if you want to impress with something different to Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc. I can’t wait to visit a BYO tapas restaurant as I think the wine would go great with garlic prawns, or stronger chicken flavoured dishes.

2008 A2O Albarino

I found the following video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/v/wJb1mfvcGsU?fs=1&hl=en_US

I also found the following comments at Wine Direct UK (www.winedirect.co.uk):

Description: Delicate, tongue-tingling, musky apricot fruit with a lingering mineral and spice finish. Albarino has become achingly trendy – and deservedly so. Perfect seafood match.Jancis Robinson: Published : 10-Jun-2009. Pure and sleek and very mouthfilling. Really polished and marine. Dry but very good acid and mouthfilling fruit.  When to drink   2009 to 2010.Wine Spectator: Issue: Web Only – 2008. This bold white shows bright grapefruit acidity and hints of tropical fruit, but a vegetal note mars the harmony. 2,500 cases made. –TM.Stephen Tanzer: Jul/Aug 08. By Josh Raynolds. Yellow-gold. Fresh pear, apple and wet stone on the nose, with light floral and baking spice nuances adding complexity. Gentle orchard and pit fruit flavors offer good, palate-staining intensity and mineral bite, picking up spun sugar and honey on the back end. A soft, uncomplicated style that offers easy drinking.

The site below has a great story of the unfortunately history of Albarino in Australia, but also a list of wineries in Australia that are growing the Albarino grape.

http://www.vinodiversity.com/albarino.html

Since writing the words above I’ve had the opportunity to try another bottle, this time of the 2008 A2O Albarino. This time at an excellent local Lebanese Restaurant (Kadmus at Drummoyne. If you’re anywhere near there, or even if you’re not – you’ve got to try this place. Brilliant food, ample flavours and generous servings. http://www.kadmus.com.au/).

Anyway. the wine was superb. I’m falling in love with this big white wine. Previously I would enjoy something like a Sandalford Verdehlo when I wanted a big white, but this white grape from Spain is on my rave list (as you can probably tell). The bottle is sealed (maybe for export) under artificial cork. I would prefer either good quality cork (Portugal isn’t that far away is it?) or screw cap to keep the freshness.

Check out some more information I’ve found:

The winemaker :

http://www.bodegascastromartin.com/castromartin.htm

About Albarino:

http://www.bodegascastromartin.com/albarino.htm

Snooth says “Albariño is a grape indigenous to the border region that separates Spain from Portugal, where the grape is know as Alvarino. It produces a medium to light-bodied white wine that is rich with peach and citrus fruits while the aromas tend to the floral and slightly nutty end of the spectrum. The wines have bright acidity and an easy-drinking quality that has propelled them to new heights of popularity.”

Read more: http://www.snooth.com/wine/bodega-castro-martin-albarino-rias-baixas-a2o-2007/#ixzz18sOgDmAS