Wednesday Winetasting- Spanish Reds

I may have mentioned before that I am in a winetasting group. We meet on Wednesdays, the tastings are themed, and we rate the wines to see which ones were favored by the group. The bottles are bagged and everyone has a glass for each wine; there are usually 5 or 6. These types of tastings are great because they are so educational and it allows you to discuss as a group what you like and dislike in a wine.
Last Wednesdays theme was Spanish Reds and we had some really good wines to think about. We tasted 5 wines from four regions in Spain. They are listed below in the order that they were favored by the group. This week we actually had a tie for first place.

Riscal, Rottlan, Vilosell, Sierra Cantabria, & Juan Gill

#1 Vilosell, Costers Del Segre Red Wine, 2003. $13.00
This wine is another Eric Solomon Selection, whose imports I am finding on my dinner table with increasing regularity. I am not sure what varietals make up this wine and it is the first that I have had from the Segre region. The wine was very ripe with chocolate and coconut aromas. Soft tannins and a long finish made this wine a favorite for 3 of the 6 tasters.

#1 Bodegas Juan Gill, 100% Monastrell, Jumilla, 2003. $14.00
This is a great wine made from Monastrell a.k.a. Mourvedre in France. Also a very ripe wine with a bit higher alcohol. It had a thickness to it that made it linger on the palate and a floral, perfume aroma that provided complexity against the ripe cherry, strawberry characters. A string of "2nds" and no bad scores made this a favorite among the group.

#3 Marques De Riscal, 2000 Reserva, Rioja, $17.00
Marques De Riscal is a fairly famous name from Rioja. This wine was showing some age to it with some oxidative and leathery characters to go with some sweet tart and blueberry flavors. "Minty" was used to describe by more than one taster and many noted its tart acidity on the palate.

#4 Sierra Cantabria Crianza, 2001, Rioja, $17.00
This wasn't the best example of a Rioja. It had some chemical sulfur lingering around dusty characters. On the palate, a week, water finish was noted with a bitter aftertaste. Some liked its earthy, herbacious quality and likened it to Mushrooms.

#5 Rotllan Torra, Reserva 2000, Priorat, $17.00
Out of Six tasters, five gave this the lowest rating, the other gave it the second lowest rating. Notes of Peanut Butter, cigar, and smoke showed themselves in the glass at first but then opened up to more favorable characters like cherry tobacco, plum, and grape candy. I think in the end this wine didn't offend nearly as much but first impressions mean the most I guess.

I have to say that looking back at all of these wines, I wouldn't mind having a go at them again. None of them were unpleasant to drink but there has to be a top and a bottom. On their own, 4 and 5 may have been stars around some lamb or pork at the dinner table. That is what is so interesting about these tastings. You may bring your favorite wine and bag it, and rate it last among other favorites.

The winos: Adam, Ryan, Catherine, Adam, & Ana (sorry the picture is so bad guys)

David Bruce 2003 Central Coast Pinot Noir

We had "the Bruce" with Lamb on Valentines Day. It was awesome. It kept on giving more and more complexity through two hours of dinner, desert, and then ....... Olympic Ice Skating. Her idea of a romantic evening, it was okay though because I got to polish off this wine while watching.

Color: Dark color, sign of a good Dijon clone.
Nose: Very nice, full of the cherry, strawberry ripeness typical of the New World style. It also had a nice amount of oak, not too much to be overwhelm the rest of the wine. The wine also opens up to more Burgundian aromas of mushrooms, damp earth, and some barnyard character.
Palate: The wine is vibrant on the palate showing a lot of its fruit with a smooth long finish. It kept me wanting more.
Overall:I wish I had another bottle to drink right now. My mouth is watering just writing about it. I give it an A, a Pinot like this under $20 is hard to find.

Marco Real 2003 Tempranillo, Navarra, Spain

I have been drinking quite a few Spanish wines lately and many of them have been Eric Solomon Selections. Eric Solomon has imported many excellent value Spanish labels into the states such as Ercavio, Las Rocas, and Alba Liza. Navarra used to be a big Rose region until new regulations in the 80's allowed for more popular varietals to be planted. The region is now putting out some great Cabs and Merlots as well as Rioja style wines being mainly Tempranillo and Grenache blends.

Color: Beautiful dark ruby color. Darker than many of the Tempranillos I have had.
Nose: Ripe cherry and orange flavors with a crushed geranium character. With some glass time the wine opens up to some more spicy characters of white pepper and clove.
Palate: The wine is a bit disappointing in "la boca". The tanins are there, but not a whole lot more. It has a really bitter finish, definitely a food wine. Maybe some salty "Jamon" to balance it out.
Overall: There must be some Grenache blended in to beef up the wine a bit, maybe a bit too much. I missed some of the real Tempranillo varietal character in this wine and being an Eric Solomon selection at about $10.00 I have to admit, I expected more. C+

Chateau Haut-Beausejour, Saint Estephe, 2001 Cru Bourgeois ~ $20.00

So what does it all mean? Haut Beausejour is the winery, Saint Estephe is the appellation, "Cru Bourgeois" is a classification used in the Medoc region of Bordeaux. For a good read on classifications in Medoc click here , and for all of Bordeaux,click here . The label also announces "Mis en Boutelle Au Chateau" That's French Speak for Estate Bottled, or "we bottled this here wine at our digs"

St. Estephe is a sub appellation on the left bank of the Gironde Estuary in the greater appellation of Bordeaux. The region is mostly made up of smaller, family owned vineyards and wineries. It has a mixture of gravel soils with outcrops of limestone known as calcaire de St-Estephe. These outcrops are considered the prime locations for growing Cabernet Sauvignon which is the main component in the St Estephe blend. The rest of the blend is usually made up of, in order of importance, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot.

So how is it you ask? I enjoyed it very much.
Color: Dark, purple-red, with hints of aging on the edges.
Nose: Leather, violets, and damp earth give way to a sweeter, cedar and tobacco note with time in the glass.
Palate: Soft tanins with a long finish, slightly lacking in the midpalate but its a good balanced blend with lively acidity.
Overall: This wine is a great food wine and paired well with my cream of bacon and mushroom pasta. I give it a B

2003 Argyle Pinot Noir, Oregon

Sorry I have not posted in a while, computer was not feeling too well, but its all fixed now. This was one of my good buys from the store that was closing down. It normally retails for about $20. It comes with a nice stelvin screw cap that I like because I don't have to worry about a falty cork to ruin my purchase.

Color: A nice ruby purple, dark for a Pinot Noir.
Nose: Wow, this is a big Pinot. Its not as Burgundian as a lot of the Oregon Pinots can be, its missing the "barnyard" earthiness. But its got a great strawberry/cherry thing going on with a floral note that picks up as it opens up in the glass.
Palate: Nice, well rounded, missing a step on the mid-palate but gives a nice long, smooth finish. Flavors of red berries stick around on the palate with soft tannins joining the mix.
Overall: I really enjoyed this wine a lot but I couldn't help missing the typical Oregonian "Pinot Funk". It's that funky, rubber tire, earthy aroma. I know it's not good to expect it in every Pinot from Oregon but it is something that I have experienced in many, and I missed it. It made the wine more Californian, and more mainstreem, its easy to like, nothing risky about the winemaking, its an easy sell. Its a good wine, easy to drink, easy to like, but missing the the "cherry on top". I give it a B.