Spanish Wines - August 31st - Ms Abbie

Spanish Wines - August 31st, 2011 - Ms Abbie
"Salud!" Lets toast to the end of summer with Spanish Wines. If attending, please bring 1 bottle of Spanish wine, it can be white, red, sparkling, etc, but try to ensure the bottle is of a single varietal (or grape) and not a blend.
Wikipedia: Spanish Wines - the country has an abundance of native grape varieties, with over 400 varieties planted throughout Spain (though 80% of the country's wine production is from 20 grapes, including: Tempranillo, Albarino, Garnacha, Palomino, Airen, Macabeo, Parellada, Xarel-lo, Carinena, and Monastrell.)
Pairings: tba

Tasting Notes:
Welcome wine (prior to the tasting): 2001 Anciano Tempranillo Gran Reserva Valdepenas DOC - $7.99 at CostCo 13% alcohol
Tasting Notes were compiled from ALL members, we also used a "fun" tasting sheet this time, that had humorous options on it, so read and enjoy!

1) 2009 Unis Old Vine Macabeo Viura Calatayud DOC - $10.99 at Hop City 13.5% alcohol
White Wine - some subtle legs, goldish straw color, translucent, lightly oaky, some pear on the nose,
comment: "smells like an office cubical" and "alcohol" not as crisp as some white wines, pineapple, granny smith apple on palate
Color: Looks like wine
Clarity: can shine light through it
Nose: Simple but inoffensive
Body: both skinny and flabby
Flavor: Oenophilic Ick
Finish: Premature gustation
Impression: Very light up front, no distinct flavors, bitter shallow, unbalanced, thin
--
Color: Looks like wine
Clarity: satisfyingly translucent
Nose: simple but inoffensive
Body: Lean and sinewy
Flavor: excessively sweet
Finish: Premature gustation
Impression: Meh - would pay nine bucks
Tasting Companions: Freaks!
Food Pairing: Orts!

2) 2009 Martin Codax Albarino, Rias Biaxas DOC - $10.99 CostCo - 12.5% alcohol
White Wine - lemongrass color, clearer, more clear than the first wine. "smells like a perm", "funky fresh", peach , "fermented veggies" or "cigar box" on the nose. "oaky cabbage or sauerkraut", light, refreshing, off dry, apples and young strawberry (not ripe) on the palate
Color: faded and jaded
Clarity: can shine light through it
Nose: Medley of vinegar
Body: Both skinny and flabby
Flavor: excessively sweet
Finish: Premature gustation
smells like perm, funky, ends suddenly
--
Color: faded and jaded
clarity: murky as a polluted lake
Nose: medley of vinegar
Body: Both skinny and flabby
Flavor: amply acidic
finish: Premature gustation
Impression: not my thing, maybe too old.

3) 2009 Montebuena Rioja (blend) Cosecha Burgo Viejo - $10.99 at Total Wine - 13.5% alcohol - 90 pts, purpley-red color, berries, chocolate, raisin on the nose, chocolate, cherries, hint of peat on the palate,
tart, lingering finish. deep raisins
Label: true piece of art
color: brilliantly hued
Clarity: murky as a polluted lake
Nose: simple but inoffensive
Body: height-weight proportionate
Flavor: Amply acidic
Impression: Tasty, would drink again.

4) 2004 Anzil Toro DOC Finca - $15.00 from www.winestillsoldout.com
dark garnet color, scents of toasted coconut, figs, would pair well with a cigar, pairs with chocolate, complex, interesting, love the finish FAVE so far, dry, dark, complex, yummy, long finish,
Color: looks like wine
clarity: can shine light through it
nose: impressively powerful
body: lean and sinewy
flavor: precariously balanced
finish: stamina to spare
impressions: delicious

5) 2009 El Pensador (The Thinker) Tempranillo Campo de Borja DOC - $11 or $12.99 at Kroger (regularly $14.99 without Kroger Plus card) - 13.5% alcohol
grapey scent, purply dark color (reminds me of a MollyDooker), lingering legs, dark fruit, raspberry, tastes of higher alcohol content, spice, plum, notes of strawberry and red cherry. more bitter.
color: looks like wine
clarity: satisfyingly translucent
nose: impressively powerful
flavor: amply acidic
body: both skinny and flabby
finish: premature gustation
impression: pretty good, maybe a little young

Food we enjoyed:

• 3 varieties of olives
• Manchego
• Goat Cheese & Crackers
• Soy Chorizo
• Chips and homemade Salsa
• Hummus
• Variety of Chocolate bites (some with toffee some without)
• Almonds
• Fresh Cherries
  

Le Caveau Tasting - 08/20/2011

Le Caveau Tasting - 08/20/2011

Cheeses served were "Delice de Bourgogne" - a sort of brie-textured cheese with a blue-cheese-like essence.
and herbed goat cheese.

1) 2009 Selbach-Oster Pinot Blanc Dry - $15.99
100% Pinot Blanc "Aromas of fresh yeast and apple that give way to a bracing acidity that creates a hint of effervescence. Deep citrus notes finish with a savory minerality. 2009 was a rare vintage in the Mosel for Johannes Selbach. His decision to bottle his Pinot Blanc as an estate wine bearing the Selbach-Oster label, generally reserved solely for their 1st tier Rieslings, expresses the quality of this selection." This is one of the oldest estates in the Mosel.

2) 2009 Feudi di San Gregorio - $23.99
100% Fiano di Avellino
(Fiano from the the hills of Avellino) "The color is a definitive golden yellow with green reflections. There are sharp sensations of the Mediterranean; fresh flowers such as chamomile, yellow peach and candied orange. On the palate there are notes of fresh-cut mango and hot stones that create freshness and minerality. This grape has a long history in the Campania region and is believed to have been the grape behind the ancient Roman wine Apianum."
Apianum has to do with bees. honey wine perhaps? There is also a red grape there, near Pompeii called Aglianico (pronounced eye-on-ih-koe).

3) 2010 Chateau Mourgues du Gres Rose Fleur d'Eglantine - $10.99
Mourvedre, Grenache, Syrah, and Carignan
(the Mourvedre gives it the gamey note on the nose)
"With an excellent aromatic length and depth, this vintage displays fresh, elegant and ethereal floral notes layered over aromas of pear and light red fruits, including raspberry and red currant. The soil of the Costieres-d-Nimes region (border on Rhone and Languedoc) is essentially composed of alluvium stones from the Alps. Here the sun shines all year long, ensuring that the grapes reach optimum maturity. "Sine Sole Nihil" (Nothing without Sunshine)"

4) 2007 Domaine Duseigneur Lirac Antares - $17.99 - rated 91pts by Robert Parker
60% Grenache 20% Syrah 20% Mourvedre
"A garnet-coloured robe is draped over spice, licorice, and black cherry fruit. With a long, lingering finish that presents hints of raisen, smoke, and garrigue. This biodynamically-farmed vineyard is located on the West bank of the Rhone Valley, near the picturesque village of Saint-Laurent-des-Arbres, and in view of the slopes of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. On old alluvial terraces the soil is made up of red clay and pebbles on top of a layer of sand. The vine grows through this seemingly uncultivatable soil, the farming of which requires great belief, patience, and tenacity."
Side Note: Garrigue is underbrush/herbs of Provence or lavendar/thyme.
I LOVE how this one smells. Delightful!

5) 2007 Triennes St. Auguste Vin de Pays du Var - $17.99
Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot
"A dark, dense wine with purple hues, it shows spicy aromas combined with ripe fresh fruit. The palate is rich and full of life with plenty of structure. This is a wine that needs some air to truly open up and show at its best.
'I was interested in going to an area where the benchmark had yet to be set, and where I could experiment with other grape varietals.' Jaques Seysses, founder of Domaine Dujac. He and Aubert de Villiane, co-owner of Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, founded Triennes in 1989. The estate is named Domaine de Triennes, after the trienna, festivities in honour of Bacchus that took place every 3 years in Roman times."

Side note: Bacchus is the Roman name for Dionysus, the God of wine and intoxication. The frenzy he induces is called "bakkheia." His wine, music and ecstatic dance frees his followers from self-conscious fear and care, and subverts the oppressive restraints of the powerful. Those who partake in his mysteries are posessed and empowered by the god himself. his cult is also a "cult of the souls", his maenads feed the dead through blood-offerings, and he acts as a divine communicant between the living and the dead.
Some of you may remember the maenad from True Blood, Maryann Forrester.