I wanted to ask for some advice — a group of friends (5 couples) get together 4-5x a year to make a fairly elaborate, multiple course meal together. These dinners have also turned into an opportunity to taste through new wines together (several in the group are pretty enthusiastic) especially when paired with a dish. We usually have an amuse, 3 or 4 courses, palate cleanser, cheese, and dessert. We usually have a theme and the next one is “tapas”. We’ve decided to serve all Spanish (or Portuguese) wines from cava to sherry.
What are some of the classic wines from Spain that you would recommend to try in such a setting?
Price matters (e.g. no Pingus or Ygay gran reserve blanco) but we can splurge on a bottle or two if special enough. Would appreciate any thoughts!
In moderate price range for Rioja Vina Tondonia - Tinto y Blanco (or Gravonia for Blanco) is terrific QPR
Others will advise on other regions but from my fairly limited experience so far you should definitely do a Tour of Spain (Duero, Yecla, Toro, Bierzo etc. ).
I think that it would be a great experience to try a little sample of the wines from the primary growing regions of Spain. Rather than trying to represent each DO/DOC of the country, I believe that you can still do the area justice by picking wines from the locations explicated in Doug Frost’s Wines from Spain: Far from Ordinary Guide (2008):
“Each Spanish wine region can be defined in it’s elevation and it’s proximity to the ocean or the sea. Some prefer to break Spain’s geography into it’s autonomous regions, but that classification method is less likely to lead to a thorough understanding of the places, vineyards, grapes, and wine styles. A more fruitful ordering is to divide the country into the following climatic categories:”
• Green Spain
• Duero River Valley
• Ebro River Valley
• The Meseta
• The Mediterranean Coast
• Andalucía
• The Islands*
Honestly, finding a wine from the Balearic or Canary Islands might not be worth the trouble, but a nice hunk of Mahón (from Menorca) or Majorero (from the Canary Islands) are cheeses you must not miss!
Fantastic feedback, thank you. This is exactly the kind of info I’m looking for. If there is a particular wine you’ve liked that typifies a region/AOC, or is just classic, I’m all ears.
I’m somewhat limited by my market (Texas) but there are several large retailers here. I’ve had a handful of wines from rioja and priorat and enjoyed the entry level tondonia
in the past. Ringland wines (Clio and Alto Moncayo) are fun but perhaps lack a little of the regional character I’m going for. Vina Ardanza and Rioja Alta 904 were both good. I was less a fan of Faustino I. For reds, I’m looking at Vega Sicilia Alion, Clos Mogador, and Marquez de Riscal Gran Reserva among others
Drew Goin - thanks for your excellent and helpful post, including the queso!
Vina Ardanza and Rioja Alta 904 were both good. I was less a fan of Faustino I. For reds, I’m looking at Vega Sicilian Alion, Clos Mogador, and Marquez de Riscal Gran Reserva among others
So decide what you want to do. If you stick with reds from the north, you have Tempranillo. If you go further north, you have Mencia. If you go south, you have Garnacha, Carinena, Monastrell, Bobal.
Alion is from Ribera del Duero. Mogador is from Priorat. Riscal is from Rioja.
Riscal is kind of classic. It’s been around forever. That’s a good suggestion. Others would be CVNE Imperial or Vina Real. Contino is an estate wine but is a great bet. There are just so many. From Ribera del Duero, besides Alion, you can get Emilio Moro or Astrales or Mauro. The guy who makes Astrales and Mauro made Alion and Vega Sicilia for years. He makes wine in Toro as well - San Roman. All of those are solid, age-worthy, and delicious.
Those Ringland wines are of a type but they brought life and attention to the regions. Priorat is going to be considerably different from the wines in the Tempranillo belt. I’d stick with those if you’re only having four or five reds.
For whites, the north offers a lot of choices. Albarino is the most well-known, but get a Basque wine - a Txakolina to start. Slightly fizzy, bright, acidic. You can get a rosado version if you prefer.
If you’ll finish with sherry, get something slightly sweet.
I will throw something a little different out for consideration: Bodegas Volver Triga, from the Alicante DO. Very popular at a recent wine dinner. It is a modern styled blend of old vine Monestrall (85%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (15%), aged in new French oak. Widely available in Texas at Total Wine for $36. ’ll be picking up a few bottles of the current vintage this weekend. Cheers!
Mencia an emerging Spanish classic, and one that doesn’t have to be pricey (e.g. Martin Codax Cuatros Pasos. Bierzo is a hotspot for it). For whites, don’t discount Rueda for good value whites.
Baga is a personal favourite red in Portugal, but might not appeal to all due to its grippy nature. A modestly priced Trincadaira might go down better and Douro reds perhaps safer still. Certainly worth a decent (white) Vinho Verde which won’t break the bank - e.g. anything from Quinta da Soalheiro (even the standard bottling is good from the off / genuinely ageworthy.
Always worth considering a LBV port or even a single quinta port to finish if you can find one with some age on it. Make an occasion of it by decanting and ‘passing the port’ to the left as it goes around the table.
Rioja of course - perhaps even meriting a place as the main course wine pair, pairing a traditional vs. modern wine?
Sherry feels like an opportunity to challenge thinking. Depending on what’s available locally, I reckon some of the forum denizens will be able to suggest something really interesting.
For food, Pork and clams sounds like an odd combo, but is easy to make yet very interesting / tasty and makes a great talking point.
Regards
Ian
p.s. I suspect you meant Cava, rather than Northern Italy’s Prosecco
So far, we have:
2004 R. López de Heredia Rioja Blanco Reserva Viña Tondonia
2013 Bodegas Volver Triga (Valencia)
NV Alvear Pedro Ximénez Montilla-Moriles Solera 1927
I’d like a cava too; but haven’t come across any I’d want to drink more than a routine NV champagne. Any standouts in this category?
For remaining reds, we’re leaning toward one from rioja, ribera, and priorat respectively. I like Pintia a LOT as well and think it has a place here. As a wild-card, has anyone tried an El Nido?
Will post the menu once it’s finalized. So far, it looks to be a lot of small bites and a paella for the bigger main. And in case you’re thinking, “gosh, I hope there is enough booze for the 10 of them”, fear not; we’re starting with Sangria and a hibiscus tea+lime+mezcal cocktail that’s a riff on one of Jacques Pepin’s favorites. Dinner isn’t for another month or two but I’ll post photos once it’s said and done.
Don’t know about your market, but tasted the Escolma from Luis Rodriguez Vazquez recently and thought it was a revelation. Burgundy (aromatics, elegance) meets Rhone (earth, tobacco). A gorgeous wine; Jose Pastor selection. Serve with roast meats (pork or venison, in particular), but I think it would play nicely with dishes featuring a smattering of fresh herbs.
Disclosure: I work at a shop in Chicago that sells this.
So far, we have:
2004 R. López de Heredia Rioja Blanco Reserva Viña Tondonia
2013 Bodegas Volver Triga (Valencia)
NV Alvear Pedro Ximénez Montilla-Moriles Solera 1927
For remaining reds, we’re leaning toward one from rioja, ribera, mencia, and priorat respectively. I like Pintia a LOT as well and think it has a place here. As a wild-card, has anyone tried an El Nido?
Mencia is a grape, not a region. The first two will be Tempranillo-based. So will Pintia. So you will have three of those and then a random Monastrell and a random blend of undetermined varieties, since it will depend on which wine from Priorat you select. It’s a random assortment at this point. That’s OK unless you’re trying to illustrate some point. But if you’re going to do a bunch of Tempranillo and then some other unrelated things, you may as well stick with Tempranillo from various regions.
Many people here have had El Nido. It is mostly Cab with some Monastrell. Their Clio is mostly Monastrell with some Cab.
Also concur with the Faustino selection, any vintage. I highly recommend having a red = Tondonia or Bosconia from Lopez de Heredia.
Re Cavas, see the 11/30/17 Wine Spectator that featured many with some discussion about them. I have 2012 Mestres Cava Brut Nature Coquet Vintage in the cellar as recommended by a friend who represents LDH and has a great palate; however, Ive not tasted it yet so…
Eight of us had the dinner over the weekend and I wanted to share the results:
We started with sangria while prepping and paired the following with dinner:
2003 R. López de Heredia Rioja Blanco Reserva Viña Tondonia
2003 R. López de Heredia Rioja Reserva Viña Tondonia
2013 Bodegas y Viñedos Alión Ribera del Duero
2013 Familia Nin-Ortiz Priorat Nit de Nin
2013 Bodegas Volver Triga
NV Alvear Pedro Ximénez Montilla-Moriles Solera 1927
WOTN was the LdH white, followed by Nit de Nin which was the most effusive
TNs are on CellarTracker - happy to share if interested
Here’s the food:
Spanish olives, cheese, serrano, almonds, canapés
Seared scallop w/saffron and grilled asparagus
Gazpacho flight
Empanada with spicy green tomato salsa (family recipe)
Sous-vide lamb with saffron risotto
Papas braves with fried capers, romesco, and honey-garlic aioli
Carne asada on duck fat tortilla, smoked tomato crema
Grapefruit and star anise sorbet
Trio of desserts (flan, bunuelos, mantecados)
Thank you all for your input which proved very helpful. Our next dinner is planned for May… Theme this time is “Great American Steakhouse”…
