Exceptional Village Wine Tasting Event!

III Mostra Internacional de vins singulars i de poble

Part One

Yep, it’s a mouth full, I know – and in Valenciano too, but I think it wholly appropriate that we keep it like it is! This wine tasting in Jesús Probre, open to the public over a recent weekend and to the pros on the Monday morning, was a celebration of all that’s good in the local wine making firmament (plus a little further afield too).

I’ve said it before, and I’ve no doubt I’ll say it again, but perhaps it’s best to let our Swedish friend and colleague, Elisabeth Holmström of Milagro Javea, say it this time – “I am continually amazed at the high quality of the wines that are made on our doorstep, and in the rest of Spain too!”

There surely can be no doubt that Spain has to be one of the most dynamic winemaking countries in the world and foreigners like ourselves, living here, or regularly visiting, are so lucky to be able to enjoy the fruit of their endeavour – well, the fermented fruit! I’ve been writing about Spanish wines since I arrived here, bulky Amstrad computer and printer in tow (no lap tops in those days!), twenty-two years ago.

I clearly remember tasting wines, contacting producers in my stumbling Spanish (oh, ok, hopeless Spanish!), writing about them and then faxing the articles off to Costa News HQ. How technology has changed! But, more importantly in this case, how the wines of Spain have changed in the interim period!

Walking around the 22 bodegas’ stalls in the ‘Riurau’ (itself entirely apt, as this is where Moscatel grapes were sun dried a century and more ago and sold as ‘pasas’, shipped out of Denia) I was taken aback at the diversity of wine styles, methods of production, bottles and labels, each with their own stories! It was a wine, culture, history and art show all rolled tastily into one event! My congratulations to the organisers, and I will be back next time, for sure!

Now, with these wine fairs, there is, for me, the perennial problem – so many wines and so little time! Add this to constraints because of my recent illness and, of course, to driving restrictions, and well you can see my dilemma! I’m thus restricted to mentioning only a few of the wines on offer – for example, I tasted only one red wine, and this a country, a region and area known firstly for its red wines! (Though this also lends weight to my thesis above – there is such a lot going on in winemaking in Spain – there are nowadays so many excellent Spanish whites too!)

The first wine to make a great impression on me was Uvas Cabrera 100% Moscatel, a small concern making just one wine – but what a wine! We all know dry Moscatel – well if you don’t, you have to get out more! But this Moscatel had a different, musky, mineral edge to it, with little of the characteristic raison/grape aroma. Floral, with some slight citrus notes in the palate and perfectly dry.

The packaging is great too – the label sports a vine with five arms. These represent the five generations of the same family, whose business started in 1895, selling pasas; then developing into table grapes sales as well (and it’s this that gives rise to the unusual boxing of the wine, lightweight wooden boxes that would have held 1kg of grapes, now the larger boxes, 5kg of grapes but now three bottles!); then into sweet wine production; and ultimately to the present incumbent making the family’s first ever dry Moscatel! Great story, super wine!

More next week!

colin@colinharknessonwine.com

Celler Alimara, DO Terra Alta

I’m not at all surprised that Celler Alimara, making their wines under the auspices of quality conscious DO Terra Alta, are starting to receive plaudits and medals.

BITTERSWEET

I’m not at all surprised that Celler Alimara, making their wines under the auspices of quality conscious DO Terra Alta, are starting to receive plaudits and medals. You read it first in Cork Talk, folks, and now archived here https://www.colinharknessonwine.com/celler-alimara-terra-alta/#more-‘ !

Indeed, the prestigious International Wine and Spirits Competition, for which I judge (though ill-health kept me away this year) has recently awarded them a clutch of medals. There’s a momentum building around this British owned and largely British worked bodega, that will continue, I’m certain. The philosophy remains in place, the wines continue to represent excellent quality at a correct price. If you see them, buy them!

I’ve recently tasted three samples for the 2017 vintage – two of which were white, one with no oak, indicating that not all Spanish whites need to be drunk when young. This is the vintage after the one when I first tasted their wines, way back in November 2017, when these current wines will have been slowly, and ultimately, rewardingly maturing in the eponymous Alimara Celler! http://celleralimara.com/

Looking back to that bittersweet tasting, I remember only too well that it was during a rather sad and worrying time in, not only our lives, but also in the lives of those of a large number of people in these parts, lucky enough to count themselves friends of Ros and Mick O’Connor. The photo, if you care to look at the above website, shows the range of wines resting on the rather grand oak table in Ros and Mick’s house, where Claire-Marie Soprano and I were ensconced house-sitting for a few weeks, while Mick was very slowly, and ultimately miraculously (with a lot of help from the formidable Ros!), recovering from a life threatening accident. The wines certainly helped to lighten our melancholy mood of the time!

Fortunately, after a few months in two different hospitals and lots of physiotherapy, driven by his doctors and therapists, though more so by Ros(!), Mick is well again, and we are all delighted – but not so much that I want to share these wines with him! Don’t worry, he’s an avid reader of the Costa News, including Cork Talk, so I know he’ll be laughing as he reads this! Mick, it’s just the way my tasting schedule fell, and anyway, I didn’t want to bring back any bad memories – honestly!

So, what of the 2017 vintage from Celler Alimara? Well, firstly, though this wasn’t the order in which I tasted the wines, I’ve already been tweeting about the red wine, Lllumí Negre 2017.

I wrote an article once entitled, 50 Shades of Black, bemoaning (as my family should, though, loyally doesn’t!) my woeful ineptitude when it comes to BBQing, and the wines I would recommend to pair – with somebody else’s BBQ! As it happens, I’ve improved! Too late, unfortunately, for my stepson, now away at Uni, where it is so ingrained in his pshyche that it is normal to have a slightly (very?) burnt flavour to most food, that his offer to make toast for his student flatmates is rarely taken up!

Nowadays, my BBQ food can perhaps best be described as charred! And, to get, at last, to the point, Celler Alimara Negre 2017 has to be the perfect foil, to not only this, shal we say ‘well done’ flavour, but also to meats properly BBQed (Claire-Marie took over!), and indeed roasted! There is, above all, a rich dark brambly fruit delivery to the wine, coupled with a slight, endearing, burnt caramel note, adding some complexity of aroma and flavour. 68% Syrah (don’t you just love Spanish Syrah?!), blended with Tempranillo and Cariñena – it’s a fruit first wine, with gentle acidity and presence on the palate and a long dark fruit finish, that makes you reach again for the glass! Look . it’s BBQ season – go and buy it now!

We tasted the Blanc 2017, made with Garnacha Blanca 55% and the rest Macabeo, with a fish dish – cooked by yours truly, but this time, thankfully, not BBQed! The grapes are hand harvested into 15kg baskets and then stored in the bodega at a chilly 4ºC to preserve the fruit character. They are then de-stemmed and crushed. Gentle pressing follows with the juice being left to settle for 48 hours. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel and the wine is then left for a year on its lees, accounting for the slight creamy texture on the palate.

Fresh acidity, with a little crisp green apple, slightly dominated by citrus lemon notes on the nose and palate. The same blanched almonds are there on the palate along with a touch of wet stone minerality, Nice wine, well priced!

Finally, Senyal Blanc, the top of the range, is my kind of white wine. Elegant on the nose, with presence on the palate, a depth created by its crafting, lemony fruit first with ripe pears, stone minerality and blanched nuttiness, with an oblique reference to wood too. It’s made with 100% Garnacha grapes from vines up to 35 years old – boy, I hope I’m around when these vines reach the half century!

Twice selected grapes (in the vineyard and later on the selection table) are fermented in concrete tanks and 1500 litre oak foudre. The wine rests on its fine lees, with occasional stirring – for that little added creamy texture. We really enjoyed this wine with triangles of creamy Flor de Esgueva cheese for aperitivos and later with a fish stir-fry, which included cod and prawns, with a little jamón Serrano too! Great match!

colin@colinharknessonwine.com Twitter @colinonwine

Facebook Colin Harkness www.colinharknessonwine.com

Verdejo and other stories!

Piedra Luenga Verdejo, has a charming label, indicative, I think, of the philosophy of the winery, and indeed, the vineyards used for its production

And I quote:

“Piedra Luenga Verdejo is an organic white wine made with the Verdejo grape that grows in our Casilla del Morcillete vineyard overrun by a layer of lavender, poppies, clover and wildflowers, buzzing with bees and other insects.”

Close your eyes and picture the vineyard – beautiful, isn’t it? (www.bodegasrobles.es)

I was kindly sent three wines from their portfolio, by current incumbent, Francisco Robles, third generation of a family that has toiled relentlessly to make the best wines possible from the soils of this less well known area of production adjacent to Jerez, with its centuries of history and tradition.

Firstly, some clarification – ‘less well known’, is accurate, but, whilst ‘burgeoning’ may be slightly overstepping the mark, there are increasing signs that DO Montilla-Moriles is tired of the shadow, and wants to come out to play! They have two particular champions, in terms of promoting the area, my Twitter friends @LauraWBurgess & @TheWineKiwi, and it’s largely down to them that my interest has grown, along with that of many other commentators and consumers.

I was down there several years ago visiting a large concern, making very good wine, (I wish I’d known of Bodegas Robles then, too!) and was fascinated to learn a little about the area, whilst tasting, admittedly a limited number of wines, due to time restraints. I was impressed, and continue to be so.

Piedra Luenga Verdejo, has a charming label, indicative, I think, of the philosophy of the winery, and indeed, the vineyards used for its production. Regular readers will know, from, perhaps 15 years ago(?), when I first started writing about the variety, that I’m a fan of Verdejo. I won’t bore you again with the details of how this practically unheard of variety suddenly hit the Spanish Wine World headlines, and of its subsequent rise from rags to riches. Suffice to say that it is now considered one of the most famous white wine varieties in Spain and is seen in restaurants and shops throughout the country.

In some ways, and I’m sure my Twitter friend, @VictordelaSerna, will agree here, Verdejo has become something of a victim of its own success. It’s been too heavily planted in its original home, DO Rueda, often by those interested in making a quick buck, rather than those whose concern is quality first. But let’s not denigrate the variety – those who do care about its quality are making really good wines from this variety, Spanish, but sharing some of the characteristics of France’s, Sauvignon Blanc.

Francisco Robles is obviously in the latter group, and a distance away from Rueda! I really enjoyed the wine – there’s a little Honeysuckle blending with wisps of fennel on the nose, plus a faint gooseberry nod, nicely fused with some red apple notes too. Fermentation is provoked using wild yeasts found in the vineyard and transported to the winery on the backs of the grape skins, grapes which are certified as organic (Best Organic Production in Spain in 2014 and the Agriculture and Fisheries Awards 2017!).

Stirring of the lees is also employed and I think it’s this that contributed significantly to the creamy mouth-feel, adding presence to the wine. It paired perfectly with my step daughter’s Feta Cheese and Spinach Filo Pastry Slice, with the creaminess blending so well with the salty cheese, and a lemon acidity to keep it all so fresh!

Bodegas Robles also makes a dessert wine, this time coupled with a carrot cake (same chef, you don’t buy a dog and bark yourself, do you?). [Don’t worry, she’ll laugh at that – eventually!]. It’s an interesting wine as well as being really enjoyable.

Caprichoso Dulce, also organic, of course, is made with dried PX grapes, which have gained greater sweetness because of their loss of water content, but blended with zesty, young Verdejo wine, balancing the sweetness to avoid a cloying wine, with, unusually, a little Carbon Dioxide added to add bubbles, freshness, and hey – some fun too! Floral, honeyed with a citrus lick, and, like the previous sentence, it’s a mouthful, with an intense, yet light finish, courtesy of the slight fizz!

I’m sure it’d not just me who’s noted a rise in Vermouth production and promotion here in Spain. VRMT Robles is one that really pleased my wife, who particularly loves the style! Oloroso wine is aged for 8 years in oak barrels, a little Pedro Ximénez wine is added. The Vermouth is also macerated with ten different herbs/plants grown on their land, adding a sense of place to the honeyed, though dry, finished product.

You’ll fine vanilla, cinnamon, a touch of cloves, a little nutmeg along with a certain Christmas aroma too! @clairemariesoprano advises – drink it as an aperitif or/and as a digestif at the end of dinner!

Once again, I am reminded how lucky we are to live in such a dynamic wine orientated country with a huge variety from which to choose, and at such good prices: both wines are a touch over 7€ and the Vermut, just 13€!

colin@colinharknessonwine.com @colinonwine

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SEKTS EDUCATION!

I know – sorry, but I couldn’t resist it!

I remember being somewhat ambivalent about sex education when I was a testosterone charged (charging?) 14 yr old. On the one hand I wasn’t looking forward to the squirming embarrassment of school lessons on the subject, but on the other I knew I needed to know!

Sekt, is altogether different, though I do confess to becoming enamoured by it!

Regarding German Wine, Millennials who love the nectar of the gods have an advantage over us of the Baby Boom generation, of a similar persuasion. Unlike us who suffered, these youngsters are unencumbered by debilitating memories of names like Blue Nun, Black Tower, Liebfraumilch et al! They can innocently select a German Wine from the shelves without any preconceived worries about its quality, its level of sweetness, its inability to pair with food, in short, its nastiness!

Some of us of a certain age have a considerable hurdle to surmount – but we really shouldn’t, German Wines Rock! So let’s get over it!

On behalf of the Costa News Group, I was recently invited to attend the Wines of Germany Trade Tasting, coolly named, The Big G, in no lesser venue than London’s magnificent Somerset House. With a breeze and light rainfall coming off the Thames, the London Eye to right, the Shard to the left, I entered into a world of Riesling and, for me, practically unpronounceable other grape varieties, areas of production, styles and producers.

It wasn’t daunting at all – I have no German, but that didn’t matter at all, I’m fairly fluent (fluid?) in wine, and anyway, everybody I dealt with spoke English perfectly (including the English people present!). And, of course, there were the wonderful aromas emanating from all manner of different shaped wine bottles (including some beautiful magnums) as corks were pulled, and we all go to work!

Whilst I was on a mission to learn as much as I could about German Wine in general, I made a beeline first for Germany’s main Sparkling Wine, called, yes, you got it, Sekt! Indeed, I had been allocated a much sought after place at the ‘Sekt Education’ Presentation by Master of Wine, Michelle Cherutti-Kowal, which was packed to capacity, with even standing room fully taken! I wasn’t surprised, I’ve heard Michelle talk before, she’s an excellent presenter, and I really should acknowledge, that the title of this week’s column is more or less plagiarised from her! Thanks, Michelle!

Now, as regular readers will know, I’m a committed fan of Spanish Sparkling Wine, Cava yes, of course, but also others crafted here in Spain. I’ve written about the wealth of choice we have here with regards to fizz, many times – I love Spanish Sparklers! But let me tell you, friendly readers, that this tasting converted me to Sekt as well! Honestly, fine quality, almost always traditional method (that used for Champagne and Cava, for example) Sekt is outstanding, a wonderful match for Prestige Cava, which I continue to champion!

Germany is the world’s largest consumer of Sparkling Wine, drinking 32 million bottles of its own Sekt, every year. Like Cava, Sekt, has differing standards, and it’s not that easy to understand. Firstly, the least expensive (ok, cheap!) examples, labelled simply Sekt, can be made from any grape varieties grown in Europe. Hence its price, and lack of quality – clearly there can be no sense of place with Sekt at this level. It can be made by the traditional method but is almost universally made by the tank, or Charmat method, that employed in the making of the vast majority of Prosecco.

Like Cava, the better quality Sekt is now being referred to as Premium Sekt, and most of these, though not all, are made by the traditional method, where the second fermentation takes place in bottle. Within this Premium Sekt category, there are wines referred to as Winzersekt, which are always made by the traditional method and are usually from a single vineyard and vintage. Also, it’s these wines that usually exceed the minimum number of 9 months left on lees, often doubled to 18 months and more. Indeed we tasted one at 30 months and a few at 48 months – that’s four years sitting upside down in the cellar, resting on the sediment left after the second fermentation, thereby gaining complexity and mature aromas and flavours to add to those of the grape varieties used!

And what varieties! Riesling is big in Sekt – monovarietal as well as in blends, with, for example, Silvaner, Grüner Veltliner, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Noir. For me, those made with Riesling are the most easily identifiable. Even when aged for lengthy periods these wines speak of this variety’s aromatics – lime, minerality even a little petrol. And when these aromas are mixed with those of autolysis, that sparkling wine bready, yeasty, patisserie note and the mature aromas of wines that have been left to age for a good length, well it makes a heady, extremely attractive fizz.

Partner Sekt with Asian food, canapés, sweet and sour, Thai, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, sushi and so on! I’m so taken with Sekt, I’m off out now to buy some, here in London!

colin@colinharknessonwine.com Twitter @colinonwine

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