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Taninia Bodegas y Viñedos Part 2

TANINIA BODEGAS Y VIÑEDOS

PART TWO

Taninia Bodegas Y Viñedos brings together, under the same metaphoric roof, five different wine producing areas: Navarra, Ribera del Queiles, Rueda, Toro and Ribera del Duero. Thus, they have the wines of five different bodegas, one in each area: Señorio de Sarría; Guelbenzu; Palacio de Bornos; Toresanas; and Vallebueno.

However, the wineries that come under this umbrella operation are practically autonomous. Indeed they were chosen to be part of the group because of the success of their wines long before Taninia became an entity. If it aint bust, don’t fix it!

The point is that whilst each retains it’s own identity, it’s own unique portfolio of wines, all five bodegas are nevertheless working towards a common goal. Each bodega strives for quality through innovation and a modern approach, but recognising the contribution of the past. It’s a winning philosophy.

Bodegas Señorio de Sarría’s Rosado Viñedo No. 5 is made from Garnacha vines that were planted in the year of my birth! Now that makes them old, and, as regular readers will know, this means that although such aged vines will produce fewer grapes, those that are produced will be richer, producing deeply flavoured wines.

The wine is crimson red, perhaps the classic Spanish rosado colour, though you might not glean this from the huge selection of shades available nowadays. And, yes, it does have that extra depth of flavour making it a food wine as well as being a super Spring and Summer aperitif wine.

There are strawberry and redcurrant notes with a slight whiff of red rose petal on the nose. On the palate the wine opens as it warms where, like me, you might detect the tantalising flavour of rhubarb, loitering with intent!

Orot Crianza 2005 is, for these days, quite elderly for a crianza wine and I have to say that I was expecting a slightly ‘dusty’ wine whose forward fruit was now on the back foot. Not a bit of it!

Having been sent straight from Bodegas Toresanas cellars where it has obviously been kept under perfect conditions, the wine retains a pleasing vibrancy, providing a lift to the more mature flavours of dark fruits and some earthiness, which is quite common to wines from DO Toro.

Tinta de Toro (aka Tempranillo) is the variety used here and after fermentation in stainless steel the wine is left to repose in French oak barricas for a year, before its, in this case, rather long bottle ageing. The oak’s influence in taste terms has tempered with age, the wine is now perfectly harmonious and drinking perfectly right now!

Staying with Tempranillo, though giving it one of its other aliases, Vallebueno Roble 2011 is made with 100% Tinto Fino. This wine is made in Ribera del Duero, a DO whose wines, I know, are very often the preferred drinking of many readers.

Bodegas Vallebueno was founded under 30 years ago. It makes just two wines: the Roble, meaning that it has had a, relatively, short ageing in oak (French and American) – six months, in fact; and the Vallebueno Crianza.

Its dark cherry colour also has a brightness about it when poured into the glass, inviting you to come and join it! Slightly toasted aromas of vanilla and very faint coconut will waft towards you quickly followed by rich fruit, so typical of wines from this DO.

You’ll enjoy the first taste so much that you’ll probably not linger, swallowing quickly to make room for the next. But this time, hold it in your mouth and savour it a little longer. You’ll be rewarded with lovely brambly fruit and integrated oak notes.

Finally, though the wines here and those discussed in Part One are but a few of the range available from Taninia, I’ll tell you about Guelbenzu Evo 2010, the wine that perhaps just pipped the others for my favourite from this group. Firstly, though, a little about its area of production, Ribera del Queiles.

This wine hales from another of those Vino de la Tierra officially recognised wine making zones. Geographically, you’ll find it between Zaragoza and Navarra and it, like all of the VdlT areas, is well worth seeking out.

In truth I’m not over enamoured with the label on this lovely, deeply flavoured and attractively scented wine. As a party to an ongoing conversation recently between a prospective client bodega and a major league UK distributor, I had the importance of label design reconfirmed. The label will sell the first bottle of wine, the contents will sell subsequent bottles. Therefore those with an old fashioned label will be left on the shelf, without people having the chance to judge on the wine inside the bottle. Harsh, but true. And this wine should not be left there!

Guelbenzu Evo 2010 is made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, grapes that were surely harvested at their optimum ripeness. It’s dark in the glass and there are dark forest fruits on the nose and rich blackcurrant flavours on the palate. Its 12 months in French oak have added complexity and integrated depth of flavour. It’s a mouthful, and yet elegant too.

It’s drinking perfectly now and will age for perhaps five more years, if kept under the right conditions!

NB We have 10 places only left for an excellent Wine Pairing Dinner with Classical and Chill-Out Music at Moraira’s Swiss Hotel, Friday 8^th May. Wines from Bodegas Castaño, presented in English by Señor Daniel Castaño; Music from Dolce Divas (www.dolcedivas.net). First come, first served – please contact me asap!

Contact Colin: colin@colinharknessonwine.com; phone 629 388 159; Twitter @colinonwine; www.colinharknessonwine.com; YouTube search: ‘Colin Harkness on Wine’.

Trouble In DO Valdeorras!

ANOTHER SPANISH WINE PRODUCING AREA IN DISARRAY!

I’m a worried man. Should I be? Am I overreacting? Is that how you spell ‘overreacting’, double ‘r’? See, I’m a nervous wrreck!

I’ve just heard that there is serious discontent in one of my favourite wine producing areas, DO Valdeorras, in Galicia, NW Spain. White wines made with the area’s indigenous grape variety, Godello, for me, easily rival those made with Albariño in neighbouring DO Rías Baixas.

I’ve been same so for years and have been most gratified during the last couple to see that my far more illustrious wine writing colleagues and Masters of Wine have concurred.

However, according to Decanter Magazine, the Chairman of the Consejo Regulador, the Regulating Council, has just resigned in a dispute about the grape harvest. Señor Luis Garcia Pando has accused some producers, particularly the co-operatives, of deliberately promoting higher yields than the maximum allowed by the DO.

The inference being that the more grapes produced the more wine will be made, but of a lesser quality. The extrapolation of this concern is that the good (in my view, excellent!) reputation of DO Valdeorras would be damaged.

Needless to say the producers concerned have strenuously denied this and, supported by the agricultural unions, they have forced a vote of ‘no confidence’ which in turn forced Señor Garcia to resign.

There seems to have been a technical argument used to support their case, as Señor Garcia had threatened to take the offending producers to court, which they argue is beyond his terms of reference. However the basic point, re over production damaging quality does not seem to have been addressed.

There has thus been a schism created between member bodegas: those who support Señor Garcia argue that they are concerned about the quality of wines produced in DO Valdeorras; those opposed deny the accusations saying also, “ . . . no-one would doubt the quality of Valdeorras, even with more grape production.”.

Both sides have an agenda. It seems to me that those who support the now ex-Chairman, Señor Garcia, have a wholly visible goal – to maintain the quality of DO Valdeorras wines. Whereas the agenda of those who oppose them is loosely hidden.

Growers, presumably members of the agricultural unions, are paid per kilo of grapes. More grapes, more money. And their tag-team partners, the co-operatives, want as many grapes as they can find in order to make as much wine as possible to sell to, an as yet, unsuspecting public.

The first steps on the slippery slope to a quality downgrade have already been made. It would appear that the naysayers have been hiding their heads, not in sand, but in the slate-strewn soils of DO Valedorras, and therefore not paying attention to what’s been happening in: DO Navarra, DO Binissalem-Majorca; DO Rueda, DO Cava, DO La Mancha, and the latest, DOCa La Rioja?

In all the above DOs there have been problems, mostly different from those facing DO Valdeorras, but some similar. All have resulted in bodegas, often famous names, abandoning their respective DOs (with the exception so far of DOCa La Rioja which has recently convened a meeting designed to placate the unhappy bodega(s?) concerned, the result of which is not yet known).

And the result of this small, sometimes larger (e.g. DO Cava) exodus from the DOs above? Well collateral damage has been done to the DOs and their faithful members. The ‘no smoke without fire’ proverb holds sway and consumers have been influenced. It’s been something of a PR disaster and even regional Governments have become involved with a view to damage limitation.

And what of those bodegas that have deserted the sinking(?) ship? Well, there has often been a very pro-active publicity campaign, where bodegas have diplomatically side-stepped awkward questions from the press, whose answers could have poured scorn on the Consejos Regulador concerned. Most have publicly been at pains not to criticise the DOs, preferring to promote their new and different status – though who knows what has been said behind the closed doors of the Consejos Regulador offices!

And finally, what of we consumers? Am I right to be worried? What are the portents of these small cracks in the solid fabric of several of the official wine producing areas of Spain? Will others follow suit in further zones? How will it affect you, and me? Will Spain eventually become ‘New World’ and abandon all the red tape, rules and regulations that simply don’t exist in countries such as USA, Australia, New Zealand etc? Is this the first chimes of the death knell for the structure of the Spanish wine world?

Well, we can still buy wines and sparkling wines from those bodegas which have left their respective DOs. Indeed, it could be argued that such wines will be better than they were when made under the auspices of the DO as the bodegas concerned will have to make that much more effort in order to re-establish themselves.

(It’s also interesting to note that some of these deserting bodegas have banded together and drawn up a set of new rules and regulations giving birth to a new ‘DO style’ area of production, which might dispense with my point above about going more ‘New World’, and which perhaps, in the future, will eventually have its own similar problems to those from which the current DOs are suffering! Once institutionalised . . . !)

But what about the DOs from whence the deserters came? This is my worry. The bodegas which left, clearly had some problem with the DO, or the DO rules etc. These problems are not always clear and in fact may not affect us much?

However, in the case of DO Valdeorras, I am worried for sure. The growers’ spokesman’s apparent affirmation (he can’t mean it, surely?) that more grapes will not harm quality, just doesn’t stack up. Has this guy never heard of green pruning (where vines have some of their forming bunches pruned to ensure fewer, but richer, grapes per vine)? Is he not aware of the fact that grapes, used for certain wines, which are harvested from old, less productive vines is a selling point?

At this moment in time, I love the dry white wines made with Godello (and others) from DO Valdeorras, but I wonder how long my affair will last?

VIII Muestra de DO Bullas –

It’s an honour to be invited as a judge on the VIII Muestra de Bullas, the 8th annual DO Bullas Wine Competition! I’ve just received the programme for this two day event and I’m really looking forward to it: 2nd – 4th March 2015.

The event starts with a Tasting of DO Bullas Wines at the Mueso de Vino in Bullas where all competing Bodegas present their wares for the invitees to taste.

Next morning the Tasting Panel convenes at 10:00hrs for the competiton when all submitted wines will, of course, be tasted blind. Wines will be listed in various different categories – e.g. Young Red; Red Crianza; etc. All wines will be tasted and given scores by all the judges. These scores will then be collated and the winning wines in each of the categories will be known – but only to the members of the Consejo Regulador, the Regulating Committee.

There is a Gala Dinner in the evening at which the winners will be announced and the trophies presented.

As the only international judge to be invited, I’m especially honoured to be present and I’m really looking forward to it all!

Restaurant Wine Lists

RESTAURANT WINES

I’m not sure if this should be categorised as a Blog, or is it more of a Rant? Perhaps it’s a sad lament, a plea from the heart or a cry of despondency? You decide!

We recently went to a restaurant not far from home, inland a little from the coast of SE Spain. We were glad to be able to reserve a table. The restaurant is very popular. We’ve been ‘on spec’ a few times, only to be turned away as it was full. Indeed, if you want a table from early Spring to late Autumn, you have to reserve, and well in advance too.

The restaurant was full when we arrived, apart from our table and one other, which in fact, remarkably, was left lonely for the rest of the night. We spotted a few faces we knew and judging by the languages we could hear being spoken, there were a number of different nationalities present. I’m not sure of the nationality of the owner, nor the staff, but the cuisine is international with a bias towards good quality meats.

I try not to eat too much meat and I like fish anyway. My choice was a touch limited – as I said, the restaurant is quite meat orientated and there was a good choice for carnivores.

I was a little disappointed with my meal, though Claire enjoyed hers, but that’s not what this Blog is about. The source of my real disappointment, nay, by despondency, lay between the pages of the notably undistinguished wine list. You might have guessed?

I’m not a wine snob – I can’t afford to be! I don’t seek out the most expensive wines on a list, expecting them to be the best (it is still true in Spain that, re wine, you get what you pay for: the cheaper the wine the less satisfactory – the more expensive, up to a point, the better the quality).

Almost invariably I look, first, at the House Wines – there are two reasons for this: firstly, the choice of house wine will determine, for me, the interest that the owners have in their wines; secondly, this is usually the more economic option!

I then look at the rest of the list. Again this can be for two different reasons: if I’m unimpressed with the house wines (and I’m sad to say that this is almost always the case, here, and a major contributing part of my despondency) I’d like to see what alternatives there are, within my budget; also I like to see if I can be tempted by some good quality wines, some variety.

The restaurant in question failed on both counts – poor house wine and limited, predictable choice on the ‘fine wine’ list. And this, without raising, what for me is a fundamental part of a restaurant, the concept of quality wines to pair with quality food.

Why despair, you may ask? Well, I do on three counts: firstly that the restaurant in question takes so little interest in its house wines. This particular red wine came onto the market probably about 10 years ago and to something of a fanfare too. For house wine, it was good – fruit orientated, decent length, enjoyable on its own and with meat dishes.

Demand started to exceed production. The bodega caved in and started compromising: asking each vine to go that extra mile and produce more grapes; planning new vineyards and harvesting grapes for wine before the vines were mature enough. You’ve seen it before. Most restaurant clients, saw the label, ‘knew’ it was the same wine and didn’t stop to consider the quality. Had they done so, they would have noticed that the wine didn’t go by any other name, but it didn’t smell as sweet!

The cynic might suggest that this was always the bodega’s plan. Launch a new wine, using established vines and limiting their yield, thus seducing consumers. Then gradually dumbing it down. Well, I don’t know which is true, but I do know that the wine is not as good as it was and should not have been in this restaurant.

Secondly, I despair because, I’m afraid to say that so many restaurant clients are prepared to accept, what for me is unacceptable house wine. The restaurants aren’t entirely at fault. If their clients drink the wine without comment, why should they bother seeking out better wines? Why possibly restrict their profits when there is apparently no need to do so?

Part of the blame lies with us – sad isn’t it?

And thirdly, I despair because of the obvious lack of thought regarding the ‘fine wine’ list. Number one thought – get a couple of Riojas on the list, they’ll sell! Of course there’s no debate about the quality of the Rioja, it’s the name that will sell the wine. But, of course, there is Rioja and there is Rioja. Does the restaurateur ever taste the wine before it goes onto the list?

Oh, and Ribera del Duero, that’s quite popular now – bit expensive, though. I wonder if our suppliers have a cheap one? Number two thought?!

What about, for example, some quality from the DO in which the restaurant finds itself? Do the restaurateurs even know that, for example, in the Valencia region there are DO Valencia and DO Alicante wines that consistently score far higher marks in the wine guides than many Riojas?

And what about white wines? Well, Rioja sells well . . . . .! And, yes, Rueda, but let’s stock those Verdejo’s that use cultivated yeasts designed to enhance the aroma profile of grapes which come from very high yielding, young vines which haven’t yet got the maturity to do it for themselves. But, no, I’m giving the restaratuers too much credit here – do they even know that?!

No, it’s more like – let’s choose one of the cheaper Rueda’s, one with Verdejo prominent on the label, yes, but blended with some characterless, young Viura! What about Rueda Sauvignon – no, bit pricey that!

Please, let’s all make an effort to kick out the poor house wines, let’s not accept the mundane. Let’s hassle the restaurateurs to put some effort into their lists and seek out good quality from established areas of production but also from lesser known ones, and certainly from local producers.

Tell them that we won’t accept wines that are made specifically for the restaurant trade in an effort to keep consumers ignorant of their mark-ups. Neither will we accept poor wines whose names are hidden from us because the bodegas have renamed the same wine, just to sell to the trade!

We are aware that the restaurant has to make a profit and that there will be a mark-up, so tempt us with wines that we know as well as wines of similar (and better) quality that we have yet to discover but which we can find in the wine shops.

Will this Blog/Rant/Plea/Lament make a difference? I doubt it – but it could!

I need a drink!

Colin Harkness Feb 2015

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