Our lunch group enjoyed another excellent luncheon at our esteemed venue, The Santa Barbara Club, in our dedicated Library Room. In keeping with the local festivities of just having celebrated Old Spanish Days Fiesta, our wine theme was wines from Span {and Portugal}.
Chef Humberto tailored another fabulous menu around the theme as follows:
First Course
Chile con carne soup with cheese and sour cream
Second Course
Braised lamb loin chop with saffron rice and chorizo
Third Course
Roasted Cornish game hen with garlic potato puree and mushroom grape demi glaze
Cheese Course
Assorted Spanish cheeses with Alpine, Cheddar, Goat, Manchego and Fontana
Dessert
Coffee creme brûlée
The wines in order of pouring:
2012 MESTRES COQUET BRUT NATURE GRAND RESERVA- 30% Macebo, 40% Xarelo, 30% Parellada; no dosage; the nose had a lot of hay, grass and straw along with some citrus notes, lemon rind most prevalent; all carried onward with a touch of saline joining in; it had noticeable body and weight; a good 20-30 minutes later, everything changed and the citrus fruit profile was much more prolific with spicy apple and pear coming in and the grassy, hay character mostly disappearing; this cava went from being good to really good.
This was my last bottle of a few and all were good and left me wondering how long they will age? I may have to buy some more.
First flight of 3:
1964 FREDERICO PATERINA OLLAURI GRAN RESERVA ESPECIAL RIOJA- with the original wire cage still intact {bringing good luck, I’m told}, this wine was showing a bit of age in the color and taste profile with really nice tertiary dried cranberry fruit accented with spice, coconut and clove; it held up well and sustained throughout the time in the glass and later on once re-tasted; great bottle.
1976 R. LOPEZ de HEREDIA VINA BOSCONIA GRAN RESERVA RIOJA- the bottle was passed with a sticky note attached stating it has “not been decanted, so pour carefully’ to avoid sediment; that was the least of the concerns as the nose strongly suggested it was corked which was confirmed on the palate as well; there was some redeeming qualities once past and beyond the wet cardboard as it gave up some really nice spicy dark fruit notes.
1952 CVNE (Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España) VINA REAL RESERVA ESPECIAL RIOJA- the bottle was wrapped in cellophane which obliterated the photo that I depend on for details so I hoping I got the ID right; the color was a dark amber almost molasses like; the nose had full on oxidative notes as well as an an almost Amazon likeness; it was pretty stinky; the one who brought it stated “it had not been stored right”; there was considerable VA in the taste and I dumped it; my friend sitting nest to me and the one who brought the wine kept his in the glass and re-tasted me on it toward the end of the lunch and it was amazingly free of any flaw and provided a spicy dark fruit profile delivered in a velvety oh so pleasing texture; Go Figure! Lesson learned: DO NOT TOSS A WINE UNTIL FULLY CONFIRMED ITS FLAWED FOREVER. I’ve had this experience before and should have known better.
Second flight of 4:
2004 R. LOPEZ de HEREDIA VINA BOSCONIA RESERVA RIOJA- this is my fav of all of the LdH lineup when declared; I took it to check in and see where it is and compare it to 05 and 06 which I have as well; not surprisingly, it is really young with many years/ decades to go before reaching its apogee; nonetheless, it has lots go goodies now to suggest this will be a major winner once mature; the dark, vibrant purple color and very fresh and ripe dark fruit confirmed its youthful state; mildly spicy and earthy red cherry and black current fruit was served up in a medium to full bodied texture all the way to the back end. HOLD
1996 ABADIA RETUERTA CUVEE el CAMPANARIO SARDON del DUERO CASTILLA y LEON- 100% Tempranillo; a touch lighter color than the Bosconia, this was very fruity with my childhood movie going candy, jujube, most prevalent; cinnamon and spice provided just the right accents; it finished dry, tannic; this is seemingly still in its infancy and I suspect it was not decanted, but would have benefitted from it.
1985 CAVES SAL JOAO VINA TINTO FREI JOAO COLHEITA de 1985 BAIRRADA PORTUGAL- some bricking; in a blind tasting, I call this an aged Bordeaux from the left bank as the nose was redolent of earthy black currant fruit; on the palate, tertiary smoky and dried cranberry, cherry/ berry was most prominent and I might move to the right bank thinking Cabernet Franc; regardless, this bottle seemed to be pretty advanced and yet certainly drinkable.
2001 ARTADI PAGOS VIEJOS RIOJA- aged 18 months in 100% new French oak from 75 year old Tempranillo vines; I last had this in 2013 and my notes were quite different and less favorable; this was a splendid wine giving generous amounts of nice spicy, sweet plum, blueberry and blackberry fruit; it hit all of the right spots until just before the end when it finishes a bit tannic dry.
Third flight of 4:
2009 MARQUES de MURRIETA CASTILLO YGAY GRAN RESERVA RIOJA- 81% Tempranillo and an atypically high amount of Mazuelo at 19%; this comes from the estate`s own single vineyard, La Plana, planted in 1950; decanted over 1 hour prior to serving; its definitely really young exuding huge potential with an emphasis on the PO; it had lots of spicy, licorice and sweet black cherry and plum fruit.
2005 Le ALTANZA RESERVA GAUDI COLLECTION RIOJA- youthful in color and energy; it was very fruit forward in the aromatics and perhaps even more so on the palate which was embellished by toasty, oaky black currant; stiff tannins prevail at about mid palate; its got depth and complexity and just needs a lot of time to develop and balance out.
2007 EGURAN TESO LA MONJA VICTORINO TORO- 100% Tinto de Toro aka Tempranillo; sourced from 45-year-old vines and aged in new French oak for 18 months; following its very youthful, dark and vibrant color came overly generous amounts of fresh and ripe dark fruit in the aromas which continued on to the back end; there was a strong hit of coffee and black cherry in this full-bodied, way young but promising wine.
2004 CASADO MORALES GRAN RESERVA RIOJA- 90 % Tempranillo, 10 % Graciano; very serious full bodied and full throttled wine here with lots of complexity and structure to ensure longevity; coffee and oak provide a significant accent to the blackberry and cherry fruit; it has bracing tannic acidity; this is about 15+ years from being ready.
Fourth flight of 3 dessert wines:
1983 GOULD CAMPBELL VINTAGE PORT- 375 ml; its rare I ever have a Port from this producer, and the last time was in May, 2018, probably brought by the same individual, so it was fun to re-try this; the negative hype I’ve heard is that it comes from a “lesser” vintage, but it was evidently good enough to be declared; it was more like a Manzanilla Pasada Sherry with its nutty flavored raisiny taste; the red color was unexpected; the previous bottle had much more pizzaz and Vintage Port like notes AND my Port expert friend, not in attendance, states this vintage is not ready to be drunk yet.
A little about this Port house: It was founded in 1797 by Garret Gould and was acquired by the Symington family in 1970 but is still run as a private family business; its located in the Alto Douro area, where the grapes are renown for producing Ports with great complexity and depth; Gould Campbell uses traditional methods and still stomp their grapes by foot in the lagares.
1983 TAYLOR-FLADGATE VINTAGE PORT- 750 ml; I had this in February at a phenomenal Port event where 20 Vintage Ports from Taylor-Fladgate ranging from 1890 to 2016 were poured and found similar favorable notes in this bottle; it was relatively light in color, the nose suggested youthfulness and significant fruit forwardness; pepper, spice and herbs provide nice accents to the sweetened blue and black fruit; this was full bodied and had a long finish.
DIAS BACO PEDRO XIMENEZ JEREZ- 500 ml; 17% abv; 100% Pedro Ximenez; dark molasses color; serious wine here with honey and molasses like sweetness and a syrupy texture; it could be served via a dropper and 2-3 drops would be enough.
This luncheon had a very interesting lineup of wines providing multiple styles and taste profiles. One conclusion is that the Spanish Tempranillos and blends need lots of time to mature and the 04, 05 and younger wines we had on this day were not even close to reaching their apogee. Gotta let them rest and age.
Cheers,
Blake