The Auswine Forum

Hi All,

I'm putting together a wine night for my group and decided to try something a little off the beaten track and go with Spanish wines. They are either from Spain, a Spanish speaking country (so I can thrown an Argentinian malbec in there) or of a Spanish varietal, however I've run into a small problem. I can do an order of serving for Australian/NZ wines with my eyes closed, and can muddle through a French with a little prompting, but the Spanish grapes are throwing me. I've tried various over the years and I know they can range in intensity quite markedly, and I am looking forward to that in the blind tasting but I would like a few pointers as to which order to serve them. The white's I've sorted, (starting with Cava ending with Rosado) but the reds....!

Other than the Argentinian Malbec listed above, I've got a straight Australian Tempranillo and a Spanish one, a couple of Roja's one Crianza, one Reserva, a Carmenere, a Monastrell, a Mencia & a Garnacha/Syrah blend.

So, suggestions please? Any ideas gratefully accepted.

Thanks

Jay

OK Jay, I'll take the plunge, although I am well prepared to be corrected by forumites with more experience in this area than me.

I would go:

The straight Australian Tempranillo and the Spanish one (together), the Garnacha/Syrah blend, the couple of Rioja's one Crianza, one Reserva (also together), then the Carmenere and Argentinian Malbec (together) then the Mencia and Monastrel (together).

If anything, you would be showing 2 examples of Temp, followed by a ripe-but-medium-bodied wine, then 2 Riojas, then breaking down into component wines (most of these varietals are blended normally).

If you were based in Perth, I'd happily play sommelier for the night. Sounds like an interesting line-up, and I hope you post the results.

Cheers

Allan

Two options:

1. Open all the wines beforehand, taste them through, and then bracket in order of intensity, defaulting to older wines ahead of younger.
2. If any of the temps are joven style wines, do them before the oaked wines. If the non-Riojan temps are big wines, do them after the crianza and the reserva. Then the Mencia bracketed with the grenache blend. Finish with the monastrell, malbec, carmenere in a last bracket.

If your wines are reviewed on Shaggy's site (www.tintoyblanco.com.au) you could get a good steer from that.

My thanks for the plunge Allan, and no I'm a Melbourne Girl (based, though not born) otherwise I would take you up on the offer. Looks like I've got some consistency from both you and Paul (my thanks, Paul), so I believe I'm pointing in the right direction. There are some of the wines reviewed on tyb but not all, but I'll take a closer look at his suggestions and see if I can get a better handle. Although I am rather fond of option 1
I'm sorry I am being a little circumspect but I know at least one of my wine group is a resident on this forum, and he's clever so I'm trying not to give too much away. However I will, once the evening is over, let you know how it turned out. I'm also throwing in tapas, so that's another juggle. I just love making things difficult for myself.

Once again my thanks

Jay