First Published in Costa News Group, July 2010

BODEGAS LUIS ALEGRE UNVEILS

NEW RELEASES IN FINE STYLE!

Readers will perhaps recall an article I wrote about the new-wave La Rioja Bodega Luis Alegre some months ago. The eponymous Luis Alegre decided to take on partners about 8 years ago so that the bodega he created in the 60’s could expand and change direction. He, and the new partners, wanted to up the ante and start to bottle wine of higher quality, in the new-wave Rioja style.

Over the last two decades there has been a market-led gradual change in the style of Rioja red wines. Once the bastion of long oak-ageing there has been a slow swing to more fruit expressive wine with less time in oak and more in bottle. Bodegas Luis Alegre has been in the vanguard of the bandwagon managing to retain classic Rioja flavours and aromas with a modern more fruit driven element.

It works well. Sales here and abroad are increasing year on year. The marketing men (and women) have become heavily involved with large advertising budgets being established, seats booked on the wine tasting road-show and attention being paid to packaging too.

They also know the value of an article in the Costa News Group and were happy to provide wines for a recent tasting at Restaurante Vall de Cavall, in the campo just outside Gata de Gorgos! Recently this elegant restaurant opened its doors to us whilst closing them to passers-by as this event, typically, took over the whole restaurant. Some sixty people sat down to a super five-course dinner, with a Luis Alegre wine served with each course and throughout the evening beautiful classical and romantic music from the delectable duo Dolce Divas was performed live.

We started with Luis Alegre Blanco 2009, this from their more economic range. Made with 100% Viura (aka Macabeo) the wine has a slight floral element, white rose petals perhaps, with a touch of apple. It’s a crisp, aperitif wine that slips down rather easily!

Luis Alegre Rosado 2009 is made exclusively from Tempranillo grapes. This bodega takes use of the sorting table a little further than most others. Rather than harvesting the grapes, transporting them to the bodega and then employing the selection table to sort the best bunches from those with damaged or possible diseased grapes, Bodegas Luis Alegre takes the table to the vineyard!

The cynic might think it a touch gimmicky, just another way of promoting your wines over the bodega down the road, and I’m sure that the marketing men have had a hand in the idea. However the theory is sound and, well, taste the wines and see for yourselves.

Using the mobile selection table allows the staff to sort out the best bunches as above, but the difference here is that it’s only the healthy, undamaged grapes that are transported together to the bodega to begin their metamorphosis into wine. The discarded grapes are sold off or are made into bulk wine for selling. Elitist it may me, but hey, it works!

The 2009 Rosado is the first of the wines we tasted to benefit from this philosophy. It’s only the best grapes that are used for this wine and it shows. This is lovely melange of strawberry and raspberry flavours with red rose aromas and a touch of body to make it a super paella, starter and light meat accompaniment.

Koden 2008 is one of the new releases they asked me to showcase and its popularity on the night showed that it is likely to be a winner for a bodega, which like all others in these difficult economic times needs a regular cash-flow.

Bodegas Luis Alegre wanted to make a wine that was economical to buy, easily accessible to drinkers who have neither the time nor the inclination to spend hours discussing its benefits and yet a wine of pedigree that still reflects the bodega’s philosophy. Now that’s a tall order. But they felt that if they can use grapes picked from very young vines whose output is prolific (6-8 years old vines) and yet treat the must (juice) in the same way as they do for the higher end wines made from old vines, they woud be able to achieve these goals.

Again, it works! It’s a very juicy wine, super as aperitif, for light meat dishes and just for drinking with friends. I predict that this wine will be all over the bars of La Rioja, like a rash!

Parcela No.5 2006 (another new release) is a stylish wine that bridges the gap between the modern style Rioja and the older style. A single vineyard wine, this Parcela is always likely to give grapes of top quality. The 45 years old vines have the perfect aspect to the sun, the soils are well drained and limited in nutrients and the climate and altitude of the vineyard allow sun for ripening but a dramatic night/day difference in temperatures. Tis was the best wine for me and it seemed that there was probably a 50/50 split between this and the final wine.

Bodegas Luis Alegre Crianza has one foot firmly placed in the traditional camp where oak has played a significant part and it will thus appeal to those Spanish wine enthusiasts who cut their tasting teeth on old Rioja. However hold the wine in the mouth a little and the integrated oak makes way for full on fruit, from bottle age and grapes picked at their optimum ripeness!

Cafe D’Art, Javea Port, Wine Tasting

CAFÉ D’ART, JAVEA PORT,

HOSTS INAUGURAL WINE TASTING

I’m pleased to say that there has been considerable interest in my new website by wine businesses anxious to promote their wines. One of the services I offer through www.colinharknessonwine.com is to present wine tastings in their own premises. It gives them a chance to showcase their shop/restaurant/café, their wares and of course to sell them too!

Everyone’s a winner – the clients who attend enjoy an entertaining and tasty evening; the bodegas that make the wines enjoy good PR and further sales; and the organising business can expect new clients who’ll hopefully be back as well as increased sales on the night and in the future.

So it was that Toni from Café D’Art, in one of the pedestrian caminos near the Tourist Office, called me and asked me to present some wines following a refurbishment and make-over of his premises. Toni also runs a wine distribution service making his prices all the keener.

The tasting was to take place at the first weekend of the Javea fiestas and when the World Cup Group Matches were in full flow – so how would this affect numbers? Well not at all actually as the place was full with some 40 clients perhaps anxious to avoid some football for a change and keen also to make a night of it by dining there afterwards. I wonder how many of the men there had calculated that the game that evening wasn’t so interesting and that this was a good chance to get back in the wife’s good books!

No matter the evening, the tasty aperitifs and of course the wines were enjoyed by all.

We were there to taste wines that are mostly under 5 Euros, all from the same winery and one well known for the easy drinking quality of its entry level wines as well as one or two of higher quality. This was another example of a place where inexpensive wines can be bought without heading to the local supermarket where it is unlikely that the wines will be as well looked after.

The first was, for me, the most charming of the evening – a very unusual blend of local favourite Moscatel with international traveller Sauvignon Blanc. Imagine the typical floral, raison and grape perfume of Moscatel blending with grassy and gooseberry laden Sauvignon, it’s a blend that works!

Moscatel is often thought of, in many respects quite rightly so, as a variety for super (and some not so good!) dessert wines. However it is not always thus! There are different clones of Moscatel and one such clone, Moscatel de Alejandria, is more suited to making wines in a drier style, an off-dry taste where there is a touch of residual sugar left in the wine that is noted on the first hit on the palate, but where in fact the wine finishes dry. Mix that with the greener style of Sauvignon and bingo, you have a super aperitif wine that will also match salads and light fish fishes.

Next was a rosado – I often like to include rosado wines in my tastings in an effort to gain further recognition for this underrated wine style. Rosado rocks, in my book and I’d like to see it appreciated more than it is. Spain is the world capital for rosado wines – so we are in the right place to experiment. I’m sure that even die-hard red wine drinkers will find a rosado that suits them here on the Iberian peninsular. They are, after all, made with black grapes and would in fact be red wines, were it not for the fact that the skin/juice contact is far shorter.

Bodegas Vinolopó from DO Alicante uses the favoured Monastrell grape variety for their rosado. It has typical raspberry notes on the nose but also with red cherries in there. It’s a rosado that is quite light in the mouth and yet manages to be bold in flavour. Good stuff!

When I met Toni for the first time he gave me an example of each wine to taste at home for my presentation notes – the young Monastrell, unoaked red was only available in Magnum size at the time, “Oh, all right then, if I must!”. This wine demonstrates the unadulterated joy of inexpensive young Monastrell – it’s full of fruit and very juice in the mouth. It hasn’t got a long finish, but its not meant to have. Enjoy it for what it is, pure fruit-driven fun!

The final wine was the only one that stepped over the 5 Euro mark, the monovarietal (single variety) Petit Verdot with a short ageing in oak. This variety will I think start to increase in plantings again in the Bordeaux region where 20-30 years ago it was being grubbed up. It’s late ripening in those days was an inconvenience the Bordelaise could do without. They had to have it fully ripened but to wait was a risk as there was always the possibility of a weather change. Now however with climate change there is sufficient sunshine to fully ripen Petit Verdot along with Cabernet Sauvignon et al.

Of course here in Spain we’ve always enjoyed sufficient sunshine to ripen our grapes, the more so in the Alicante province. In fact here we have to be careful in that for me this variety can become flabby and lose its acidity if it is allowed too much sunshine. It seems that Vinalopó has the formula just about right – it was the most popular wine of the evening!

First Published Costa News Group, June 2010

CALIFORNIA, THAT’S THE PLACE

YOU OUGHTA BE . . . . . . . .

. . . . . So they loaded up the trucks and went to, well El Paso Robles actually! Ah the Beverly Hillbillies, remember the series? Well it’s wine and not Black Gold or Texas Tea that have brought it back to my mind as I’ve been engaged recently in an interesting project – shipping Spanish wines to California!

Californians Randy and Marianne Wallace have been living in Moraira for about four years but have now decided to return to their roots to set up an e-shopping business, Spanish Tienda, selling authentic, quality Spanish products to fellow Hispanofiles in the Golden State. I think they are onto a winner – all things Spanish are of great interest to American citizens, with Spanish now being the second language of the country.

Randy and Marianne have been researching for some considerable time and have now left to tie up the loose ends, Stateside, and finally to launch this new enterprise. Pivotal to their business will be their Spanish wine list, short but well chosen initially, and no doubt building as time goes on. I’ve been acting as consultant and it’s my job to handle the Spanish wine side in their absence. As you can imagine we had to taste several wines!

For the moment we have settled on two bodegas – well known to Cork Talk readers: Bodegas Dominio de la Vega and Bodegas Vicente Gandía Plá, which, coincidentally are quite close to each other inland from Valencia.

Whilst the priority requirement was of course the good quality of the wines there are other factors that have to be considered too. Clearly the price point is crucial, there are many hidden expenses to add to the price of the actual wine – transport, of course, but also duty, tax, temperature controlled warehousing etc. However we have also been considering the style of wine and the grape varieties used.

Like anyone else, Californians like to celebrate – and what better way to do just than by popping the cork of some top quality Cava. So Spanish sparklers had to be on the list, white and rosado. Also, whilst California is awash with Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and, to a perhaps lesser extent, Merlot, they are often of a similar, big and oaky style. Spanish Tienda would like to offer the same varieties but with a difference.

Clearly the super Spanish grape variety, Tempranillo, really should be showcased across the pond but also we believe it’s time to spread the word about Utiel-Requena’s jewel in the crown, the indigenous Bobal, whose soft and silky, fragrant red wines are quite unique.

There’s also a place we believe for some Sauvignon Blanc based wine and why not one with the be-loved Chardonnay as well as super, aromatic Spanish Moscatel in the blend? We have one, and it’s lovely!

Let's Seal the Deal - with Wine, of course!

Having done the hunting and gathering it was time just before they left to invite Randy and Marianne to dinner to tasted the wines on trial to taste both without and with food – there’s no point in being anything other than rigorous in our selection, the success of the wine side of the business depends on it!

Dominio de la Vega delivered a host of wines from which to choose – we started, naturally with the fizz. I’ve always been a great believer in their Brut cava, for the price I honestly believe you cannot find better. At a blind tasting you’d expect this wine to be at least 10-15 Euros, it retails for about 5! Their Brut Reserva with that elegant bottle, is justifiably touted as a cava with Champagne beating qualities and the excellent retail price tag of approximately 14 Euros – another way that it beats Champagne, hands down.

Dominio de la Vega’s Pinot Noir Rosado Cava’s label speaks of what is to come – lovely pink flower petals on the nose with good Pinot fruit and the added value of finesse and elegance. A new wine to me, their Sauvignon Blanc/Chardonnay/Moscatel is such an aromatic wine that the heady perfume leaps from the bottle the moment the cork is pulled. On the palate it there is a fruit cocktail mix of gooseberry, pineapple, banana, peach and raisons – all derived from the varieties used, but also a refreshing acidity with floral and green notes too.

In the same shaped bottle with the same label their 100% Bobal 2009, blew us all away (good American expression, huh?). It’s had six months in oak adding depth to the super, dark brambly fruit, slight caramel and violet notes. There’s a touch of cinnamon with added spice of sweet paprika and even a passing fragrance of creamy Danish pastry!

Their Madurado en Barrica 2008 is made with Bobal, Cabernet and Syrah and has dark plum skin and blackcurrant on the nose and a rounded integrated oak note from it’s four months in French wood. We opted for the 2006 Crianza, Bobal Cabernet and Syrah again, but with more time in oak. It’s a developing wine that will last – not that we expect it to stay on the shop shelves for long! Finally the 2004 Reserva swaps Syrah for Tempranillo and is a super example of why it is so good living in Spain!

Bodegas Vicente Gandía Plá offered us their full, new Fina del Mar range. These 2009 vintage wines are incredibly well priced. The Tempranillo is deep and dark coloured with tinned strawberries joining hands with blackberry fruit and a touch of oak. The Merlot has black pepper and floral notes and the Blackcurrant and Green Peppered Cabernet Sauvignon is perfectly approachable for such a young wine – a virtue emanating from fruit picked at optimum ripeness. Their Chardonnay is light, easy drinking and will contrat well with the blockbusters of California!

First Published Costa News Group June 2010

BODEGAS MIGUEL TORRES

A WELCOME RETURN TO THE WINES OF ONE OF SPAIN’S MOST PRESTIGIOUS BODEGAS!

I haven’t written about the wines of Bodega Miguel Torres for a couple of years now. I promise you this is not a knee-jerk reaction to the criticism I received once accusing me of being in the pay of Señor Torres, so complimentary was I about his wines. A serious wine critic must be impartial and I know that I am, and was being so when I was heaping praise on this bodega which in some ways may be considered more of a Spanish Institution rather than just a winery.

Bodegas Miguel Torres survived the dreadful troubles of the Spanish War (including heartbreaking vandalism of the building and the barricas which housed its super wines) and the subsequent depression here in Spain, whilst establishing a practically unheard of export trade, particularly in the USA.

Bodegas Miguel Torres is a shining example of how big can be beautiful – and this bodega isn’t just large, it’s huge! It now makes wines in several different areas of Spain, not only in its own backyard of Penedés, as well as in other countries, including Chile and the USA, where the current Miguel’s sister, Marimar Torres makes world class wines, specialising in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

You can imagine my delight therefore, when I was in Barcelona earlier this year, to be able to enjoy a tasting with Mireia Torres, Miguel’s daughter! This elegant, erudite, almost aristocratic and yet very charming young lady – certainly knows her wines and indeed, understandably has an unshakeable belief in them. Mireia has not only grown up with Torres wines but has of course studied wine too. Like many in the Torres wine portfolio, it’s an unbeatable blend!

Manso de Velasco 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon is their best wine from Chile. The vineyard from which the grapes were handpicked is 100 years old, the must (juice) has a lengthy maceration and stainless steel fermentation is followed by a year in French Oak. It’s a wine that speaks of super-mature, opulent fruit, subtle oak and bags of sunshine tempered by adequate acidity gained from higher altitude. NB as it’s from Southern Hemisphere Chile it’s roughly 6 months more advanced in its development than a European wine of the same vintage.

Perpetual 2007 is from Priorat and again is their flagship offering from this wonderful wine area where the steep mountainsides which are home to the vineyards are difficult to work but are so well drained. Also whilst the soils contain little nutritious material to feed the vines they are nevertheless full of minerals that make such an impact on the wines.

The vines for Perpetual are an average of 55 years of age. It’s a small production and the wines have a marked minerality with very dark fruit combining with spices, liquorice and some black pepper and for me just the faintest hint of the spray one might sniff when cutting a dark green pepper. It’s a big wine in the mouth (15·5% abv) and enough fruit, acidity and tannin to develop for 10 more years!

The high alcohol content surprised me. Torres is not known for abundance of alcohol (except maybe in their brandies!) and yet this is an unusually high abv (alcohol by volume). Mireia explained that over the last years all their wines are coming in with a higher abv – a natural result of climate change. There is more sunshine, higher temperatures and this results in more sugar in the grape – it’s the sugar that is converted to alcohol!

It’s a problem that is occurring to such an extent in Australia that some areas can no longer make good wine as the phenolic development of the skins (a crucial part of winemaking) is not keeping apace with the sugar development of the juice. Typically, for such a broad thinking bodega, Miguel Torres boffins are on the case with plans to make sure that this does not happen here.

For example their blends will be changing with more of the naturally lower alcohol varieties being in used to lower the overall abv. Plantings will be at higher altitudes, more leaf coverage will be encouraged and different rootstocks will be considered.

Mas Borras 2007 is 100% Pinot Noir – a notoriously difficult variety to perfect, but one that will reward the grower’s patience with some masterly wines. Grown in Penedés at about 500 meters above sea level in a specific vineyard whose soils and aspect to the sun have been carefully considered for this variety, the wine has acidity and tannin aplenty at the moment but with a lovely rich depth of fruit, again some liquorice and minerality too. Nine months in one and two year old oak and time in bottle in the cellar finish the wine. It’s a Torres classic!

Finally, for this tasting at least, we tried the wine that perhaps made Miguel Torres famous – Mas La Plana. The 2006 vintage is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, there was a dreadful downpour during the normal harvest time, but these grapes were harvested afterwards when drying winds had done a perfect job in making sure that the grapes arrived at the winery in perfect shape.

The juice was in contact with the skins for 4 weeks to extract all the colour, flavour and tannin that are required to build a wine to last of perhaps 20 years! At the moment dark fruits come from the depths of this wine, with noticeable tannin and some minerality but it is not the finished product. This wine is one to buy now and bury in your cellar for say another 5 years and then to taste and plan when you will imbibe the rest of the case. It’s going to be a wonderful wine!