TN: Spanish Current Releases

WINE TALK
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SPANISH CURRENT RELEASES - Beltramo’s in Menlo Park, California (8/15/2009)

I am not a big fan, or buyer, of Spanish wines. I have a few favorites–Lopez de Heredia, Ygay, Unico, Janus, Alenza and Torre Muga–and I keep trying things from new producers, especially Priorat and Ribera del Duero, that receive big scores, but am rarely impressed enough to buy. Saturday’s tasting of new releases at Beltramo’s was therefor typical for me, with the added disappointment that Torre Muga’s latest offering tastes like an over oaked attempt to compete with Priorat producers rather than the usual balanced wine I expect from Torre Muga. The best of this tasting for me was the '04 Closa Batllet Gratallops. The best values, at about $10 and $13 respectively, were the '08 Bielsa Garnacha and '08 Benaza Godello.
Whites

  • 2008 Uriondo Bizkaiko Txakolina Malieta Mahasti - Spain, País Vasco, Bizkaiko Txakolina
    Very pale, virtually clear color; green pear, faintly oily nose; tangy, minerally, tart green pear, green fruit, tart orange palate with light oily texture; short-medium finish (88 pts.)
  • 2008 Benaza Monterrei - Spain, Galicia, Monterrei
    Very light canary yellow color; banana, green melon nose; poised, creamy textured, mineral, tart lime and green fruit palate; short-medium finish (89 pts.)
  • 2008 Bodegas Y Vinedos Shaya Rueda Old Vines - Spain, Castilla y León, Rueda
    Light yellow color; tart gooseberry, mineral, light oily nose; tasty, light oily texture, tart gooseberry, mineral and lime palate with depth and medium acidity; medium finish 88+ pts. (88 pts.)

Reds

  • 2008 Masia del Bielsa Campo de Borja - Spain, Aragón, Campo de Borja
    Dark cherry red color; clove, white pepper, red plum nose; light bodied, tart red plum, spice, clove and white pepper palate; medium finish 88+ pts. (88 pts.)
  • 2007 D. Ventura Ribeira Sacra Vina Caneiro - Spain, Galicia, Ribeira Sacra
    Medium dark cherry red color; tart berry, white pepper, anise nose; juicy tart berry, persimmon, with a touch of anise; medium finish (87 pts.)
  • 2006 Descendientes de José Palacios Bierzo Moncerbal - Spain, Castilla y León, Bierzo
    Dark red violet color with pale meniscus; ripe berry, berry liqueur, raspberry liqueur, date and coconut nose; ripe, coconut, berry, fig, black fruit, cassis palate with depth and heat on medium-plus finish 90+ pts. (90 pts.)
  • 2004 Buil & Giné Joan Giné Giné Roure Clássic - Spain, Catalunya, Priorat
    Very dark red violet color; cassis, plum nose with a touch of cedar; big, tight, tart cassis, plum, berry palate with firm, sweet tannins; medium-plus finish (blend of Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon and Carignane) (89 pts.)
  • 2004 Closa Batllet Priorat Gratallops - Spain, Catalunya, Priorat
    Dark red violet color; deep berry, blackberry, blueberry, vanilla and anise nose; tight blueberry, berry, anise palate with sweet tannins, depth and structure; long finish (65% Carignane, 22% Grenache, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot, 2% Syrah) (91 pts.)
  • 2005 Bodegas Muga Rioja Torre Muga (Reserva) - Spain, La Rioja, Rioja
    Very dark red violet color; deep black fruit, cinnamon, toasty oak, berry and smoke nose; tight fig, berry, black fruit palate with tart tannins, disappointingly oaky; medium-plus finish (86 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

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Thanks for posting, Richard. I’m not much of a Spanish wine drinker either, but I do enjoy the occassional RdD, Monstant, or Priorat.

I agree this is a fantastic wine … while you like it, I am absolutely crazy about it … IIRC, I gave that one a “94.”

EDIT: I did, indeed, give that one a 94. It looks like we have a dupe in CT, though: http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=490477

here’s my TN for that one:

– popped and poured –
– tasted non-blind –
according to WA: 67% Carinena, 16% Garnacha, 11% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot, 2% Syrah

NOSE: This wine has very pretty aromatics that invoke a sense of crushed rose petals mixed with perfumy red licorice and hints of black cherry. With time, notes of orange citrus emerge and the alcohol starts to emerge as well.

BODY: dark purple color of great depth; lots of fine particulate matter suspended in the wine; medium-full bodied.

TASTE: like its aroma, this wine has a very “pretty” taste: raspberry and loganberry fruits are flattered by a hint of restrained oak treatment. This wine is both sweet and bitter at the same time, and the fine-grained tannins carry a nice streak of cement-like minerality through the finish. A dash of sandalwood spice adds complexity. The palate is full & seamless, and the finish lasts for about 40 seconds. The finish gained intensity and length the longer the bottle was open. The fine tannins and ever-increasing finish lead me to believe this wine could be aged over the short or mid term, but with how well it’s drinking right now who can wait!?! This wine is very good … I could tell because I didn’t want to stop drinking it despite the late-night hour. I somehow managed to save a glass or two for Day 2, and will update if Day 2 holds any further surprises. Seek this out.

B: 50, 5, 13, 18, 8 = 94

Day 2 (6/16/2008): NOSE is now leaning more towards the fruit, and away from the florals. I now get a hint of anise on the NOSE as well. The tannins are almost completely gone; now the wine is a bit too sweet for my taste…still very good, just not “wowza, holy smokes!” good as it was yesterday. Based on this, I would say this wine would do well in the cellar for a few years, but you’re really not missing anything if you drink now after a 1 or 2 hour decant.

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I keep trying things from new producers, especially Priorat and Ribera del Duero, that receive big scores, but am rarely impressed enough to buy. Saturday’s tasting of new releases at Beltramo’s was therefor typical for me. . .

Don’t buy according to someone’s points or recs unless you know and trust their palate. You’re a generous grader though - gave the reds
88
87
90
89
91
86 for the worst

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Richard,

Where did you get the varietal breakdown for the Closa Batllet. I notice our notes differ in that regard, albeit slightly.

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Greg,
I’m not sure what your scores were on those wines. I take it you were at the same tasting? The cost of the wine doesn’t factor into my scores, but I note that the wines listed above ran in price from $10 to $32, $45, $75 and $80. 86 points for an $80 wine is a pretty big disappointment for me. Care to share what your ratings were and your rating philosophy? Personally, I tend to look for what’s good and enjoyable in a wine, and give the benefit of the doubt wherever possible, so my scores may run a bit higher than someone who is taking a more critical approach than that. That said, I find that I’m usually within a point or two of Tanzer’s score, if there is a Tanzer score on a wine, sometimes higher than his but often lower, and generally three to five points lower than Parker on wines that Parker has scored highly.

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Brian,
I got the breakdown on the Gratallops from James who runs the tasting bar at Beltramo’s. I’m not sure where he got it. I see that the info isn’t available on the Closa Batllet website.

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Perhaps not the greatest selection of wines, but there are two I’d definitely rate higher - Closa Batllet and Moncerbal.

Also, some of the wines from cool climate regions require a change of the mental chip we usually have about what Spanish wine should be like, and demand some taste for the subtlety of such wines as Loire or Burgundy. For instance, last month Eric Asimov of The New York Times heaped praise on the Viña Caneiro (“D. Ventura - Three different cuvées, each distinct and delicious, with Viña Caneiro the best.”) I’m not as sanguine about it, but I do think this deserves better than 87 points.

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Where Jay and Mark Clinard there? Sounds like one of their TWA tastings.

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Hi Richard. I wasn’t at that tasting but have had a few of those wines. I was just remarking on the fact that you didn’t seem enthused about them but your points hovered around the high 80s - low 90s, which isn’t shabby. I hope you didn’t think it was a dig. So in response, I had to dig through all kinds of crap to find notes that were taken at different times and different tastings. FWIW, here’s what I could find and normally I would never put these up because in some cases they were quick impressions at larger tastings, which is not a good way to evaluate seriously. In other cases they were taken at more leisurely and focused tastings. That’s also partly why they vary in length:

Masia del Bielsa - not special. Drinkable but unexceptional. 85

Ventura Ribeira Sacra Vina Caneiro - don’t have any notes.

Moncerbal - 88. A very frustrating wine for me. I’ve only had it a couple of times and never gave it better than 90, if that. Of those single plot wines - San Martin, Fontelas, Moncerbal, Las Lamas, La Faraona, I don’t “get” them. Intellectually I do, but they illustrate perfectly the whole issue of single-vineyard or single-plot wines. They’re intellectual rather than emotional and I don’t think the back story of the wine should trump enjoyment. SOMETIMES you can get interesting and fascinating and great flavors from a restricted area, but there is a reason for blending. I’d far rather have a wine I love than have a wine that is of interest only because I know the story but it cost me extra money and I like it less. The wine of of the series that I like and actually buy is in fact the blend - Corullón. Anyhow, although fairly new, the Bierzo wines may have real aging potential. So I’m keeping some just to find out. The region itself is one of the more intriguing in Spain because it’s so different from what people in the US are usually getting, and Palacios is one of the finest winemakers around, hence my frustration. I think his model is Burgundy but he’s good enough and Spain is complex enough that they don’t need a model. Rioja has made blended wines for many years and some of them are exceptional. In Priorat maybe not, but he’s got Finca Dofi, which is one of the best IMO. And my favorite wine from the Bierzo region is Paixar. So maybe Bierzo works better as blended wine. Who knows?

Buil & Giné Joan Giné Giné Roure Clássic - dislike the medicinal notes, slightly hot. Otherwise OK 86.

Closa Batllet - no notes.

2005 Torre Muga - 92. I like it. Have some 2001, haven’t bought any recently. I like the Muga Res and GR and buy those and they age nicely and all in all, I probably prefer them.

Shaya - a straight up verdejo. No complaints, it’s OK and I’ll drink it. 87. I like verdejo. Had one last night in fact. Crisp, tart, reminiscent of some sauv blanc. I think this is another Ordonez/Juan Gil project.

Uriondo Bizkaiko Txakolina Malieta Mahasti - straightforward txakolina. Typical. I like these well enough but they somehow always seem to cost more than they’d merit. Spain has so many good, crisp whites. Green bitter bosc pear, lemon and citrus, green apple. crisp finish. Good. 87

Benaza Monterrei - no notes.

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Only La Faraona is a single vineyard, Greg. The others, including Moncerbal, are blends from micro-plots in the same general neighborhood. Exactly like Paixar. And Finca Dofí is a single-vineyard wine, like L’Ermita. The lower-end Les Terrasses (and now the new, cheaper Camins del Priorat) are blends.

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Víctor:

I was under the impression that Fontelas was a parcel within San Martín. What would be the difference between a parcel and a single vineyard?

SALUDos,
José

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Fontelas is an assemblage from three tiny parcels of vineyards in the San Martín district, totalling 0.6 hectare (1.3 acres).