Grand Cru Tasting Group (Perth) - Wines of Spain and Portugal

[Waiters Friend]

G’day

In decades past, it seems the English used to rubbish Spanish wines as insidious and inferior plonk. It’s not as if the English were producing anything better, but their love affair with France continued, even while holidaying in Spanish resorts.

No more. There’s some excellent Spanish wines, and Rioja has become a household word. Also, we have more familiar grape varieties like Albarino, Tempranillo, and Garnacha (Grenache), some of which have been made in Australia for years (let’s skip over the Savagnin episode in the 2000s).

At the suggestion of one of the group, we opened it up to Portuguese wines as well. However, only one arrived on the night.

The wines were tasted in order of sparkling, white and reds. Given that there was only one each of the first two, the tasting was predominantly red. The reds were tasted blind, from youngest to oldest with no idea what grape variety was in the bottle.

And, just to confuse the issue further, a Turkish white made an appearance as the sole white. “tal es la vida” (such is life).

We opened with the solitary sparkling wine (cava) – a Villa Conchi Reserva NV. A blend of macabeo, parellada and chardonnay. Pale yellow in colour. A toasty, aldehyde nose with green apple. Velvety mousse. The acid is high, but not harsh. For me, not a lot of fruit on the palate, and the wine is quite dry with a clean finish. Other tasters considered the wine complex and it was highly regarded by the group. A good start indeed.

Vinkara Hasandede 2018. This was the Turkish ring-in. Yellow in colour. There’s honeysuckle, peach, apricot, tropical fruits and a cheesy note (modest) on the nose. The palate was less expressive, with modest oak, moderate acid with touches of apparent malo.

Altos De Losado La Bienquerida Mencia 2016. Purple / crimson in colour. A modest and shy nose to start with, slightly dusty with some tar and earthiness. There’s some dark cherry, tobacco, dark chocolate and savoury oak. On the palate, the tannins are dusty and the earthiness comes to the fore. What fruit was on the palate was in the red spectrum, and this (like many of the wines in this tasting) was far more expressive on the nose than the palate. The group considered this might be a good food wine.

Losado Bierzo Mencia 2016. 12 months in French oak. Purple / crimson in colour. Quite a lot on the nose – cinnamon, plum pudding, dark fruits, vegemite, some salinity, Terry’s orange choc, and the fruits are a little stewed. The palate is tangy, with sharp fruits and they are a little bitter in my opinion (other tasters felt the palate was fuller and fruitier). There’s lots of acid, good tannins, but the wine finishes short.

Alto Moncayo Veraton Garnacha 2016. 15.5% alc and 24 months in American oak. Some of us could have mistaken this for a Barossa shiraz. Cloves, dark fruits, Christmas cake and liquorice on top of a slightly earthy nose. The palate has some timber polish and bitter chocolate, with big tannins, a rounded, full body and a long finish. Highly regarded by the group.

Mugo Rioja Reserva 2016. Cloudy purple red. The nose has bright red cherries, cedar, and pine needles. There’s clean cherry flavours on the palate, with high acid, supporting oak, and modest tannins. One taster noted powdered mashed potato on the back palate. I found it one dimensional and there’s only moderate length.

San Vicenze Rioja 2015. Crimson in colour. Lots on the nose, with red and blue fruits, menthol, as well as some iodine or medicinal notes. There’s also some salinity. The palate shows cherries and under-ripe plums, 80% dark chocolate (we get very specific!) and fennel. There’s good supporting acid, and prominent (almost overpowering) but fine tannins. Medium finish.

Rejon Castilla 2015. 16% alcohol and 100% tempranillo. Crimson and cloudy. The nose is quite complex, with spices, coffee grounds, red fruits, white pepper and soy. The palate tastes like a “Cherry Ripe” bar, but with some umami or savoury notes as well as tart red fruits. Some tasters got sundried tomato as well. Goo acid and length, with big tannins and a little alcohol heat. For me, it tasted like a big Barossa GSM.

Borges Da’o Reserva Tinto 2013 (Portugal).Tinto Roriz and Touriga Nacionale. Light crimson in colour. Maraschino cherry, aniseed and redcurrant on the nose, with a touch of menthol. Tannins are slightly chunky (most of the previous wines have had finer tannins) and the red fruits are slightly confected. A very clean wine with high acid and moderate length. It was considered it would be a good food wine, especially with steak.

Campo Viejo Rioja Gran Reserva 2013. 100% tempranillo. 24 months in oak. Garnet in colour. Slightly confectioned, cheery cola, cinnamon and redcurrant on the nose. Tannins are prominent but fine, with lots of dark fruits. Good acid and reasonable length. Highly regarded by the group.

Ad Libitum Rioja 2012. Garnet in colour. The nose has cocoa powder, red fruits and plums, and “damp cellar”. There’s fine but prominent tannins, some sour notes, and alcohol heat. Medium weight and intensity. The group considered it unbalanced.

Ad Libitum Rioja 2012. Garnet in colour. Yes, the same wine! But what a difference! Dark fruits and choc on the nose, with more dark chocolate on the palate and superbly balanced – acid, oak, fruits, tannins and developed characters all in balance. “An easy wine to drink” and highly regarded by the group, in flagrant contrast to the previous wine. Bottle variation at its most extreme.

Sierra Cantabria Rioja Reserva 2011. Garnet in colour. The nose showed little fruit, being dominated by barnyard and earthy flavours. There’s mushroom and earth on the palate, along with bitter and stewed fruits (the fruit has dried out) and the wine is astringent and tannic.

Wine of the night was the sparkling wine, the Villa Conchi Reserva NV.

So, not an entirely satisfying tasting, but certainly an educational one. However, when the wines are good, they can be very good.

Cheers
Allan

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[Mahmoud Ali]

An interesting lineup for sure. I am not familiar with any of these wines except for the Muga and Sierra Cantabria. I happen to have bought the very same '16 Muga Reserva as it came highly recommended and the price was right. I decided to cellar it rather than drink it young and your note suggests that it was wise to hope for something better to emerge sometime in the future.

Cheers ......................... Mahmoud.

[Ian S]

Good to see a couple of wines made with Mencia grape - often a lovely appetising (and as you say, red-fruited) wine, though as in many other places, there seems to be a little difference in the style they're looking for. Simpler might be better for me.

Is suspect the Garnacha would not be my style of wine, but there again big Barossa shiraz isn't my style either. That said, having some definition via tannic grip, bitter chocolate sounds good

No surprise Rioja dominates (it still does here too).

Definitely worth exploring Portugal and it has an impressive range of styles from the plushness of the Douro reds, through to some properly bracing whites (and reds) in the north west. I've certainly enjoyed table wines from Niepoort, Quinta da Soalheiro, Luis Pato, (Santos) Sidónio de Sousa, but also some entry level wines like the Trincadeira by JP Ramos. Bought locally there is stunning value to be had, and wine drinkers on a tight budget are served very well.