Author: Colin

Perhaps the Finest Expression of Albariño – Pazo de Señorans

ALBARIÑO+ @ PAZO de SEÑORÁNS

 

The small portfolio – just three wines – of Pazo de Señorans consistently earns over 90 points (out of 100) in whichever Spanish (and international) wine guide you may peruse. The most reliable of the Spanish guides, Guía Proensa 2018 awards 97 points their spectacular Pazo de Señoráns Selección de Añada; the comprehensive Guía Peñín 2017, 98 points, to this, their flagship offering! No wonder that I’ve been saying, ever since I tasted it several years ago, this is one of the finest, what, half dozen, white wines of Spain!

 

A once grand, 16th Century country seat, the property was acquired by the family, in whose hands it remains to this day. Over a period of time the building was returned to its former glory and is now a fine example of housing for the gentry of that epoch. In the 70’s considerable refurbishment occurred with a view to making fine quality wine with as little human intervention as possible.

 

If looking for the finest expression of the wonderful Albariño grape variety, it’s these wines that you need to buy!

 

Just 300,000 bottles are made each year, from vines owned by the family as well as those tended by thirteen other growers, with whom the winery has been working for decades. Meticulous records have been kept from the start, recording the scientific analysis of each of the 500 small plots, each vintage – a crucial part of the blending process.

 

Plots are harvested when they are ready – there’s no pandering to convenience here. There are small stainless steel fermentation tanks where the juice from these plots are individually fermented and then left oxygen-free at cold temperatures, ready to be blended with others. Clarification is by gravity in cool temperatures.

 

The secret is that these 100% Albariño wines rest with their fine lees for a minimum of 4 – 5 months, with the Selección de Añada resting for a full three years, with occasional stirring!

 

The tour, with our guide, the super-friendly, extremely knowledgeable, Javier, whose passion for Albariño is contagious, showed us through the beautiful rooms, the family chapel and the wonderful gardens, before taking us to the perfectly lit, intimate, tasting room, where we set about our joyous task!

 

Pazo de Señorans 2016 is the perfect example of all that can be offered by a young Albariño. At approximately 12€, it isn’t cheap, but it is so worth the money, you have to try it! A white stoned fruitiness is to the fore with fresh, exhilarating acidity. Thirst quenching, yes, but so much more! You’ll fine white flowers on the nose, more Jasmine than Rose, along with faint green herb notes.

 

Pazo de Señorans 2014 is essentially the same wine, but older. I hold my hand up and say, ‘Yes, I am the guy who recommends drinking most Spanish white wines when young.’ However, the emphasis is on the word ‘most’. Albariño is a shining example of a Spanish exception that proves the rule!

 

That said, the 2014, was a little less voluble than I’d hoped – this, I’m sure (reinforced by Javier’s vehemence!) is because it is at this moment at the sleepy, dormant stage through which many wines go, on their way to greatness. This is very much a consumer-led wine – the adega’s (Gallego for bodega) response to requests for a wine that sits between the fresh young style and the considerably (for a white wine) aged Selección de Añada). Round and soft, with a little creaminess and, for me, a quite pronounced yellow skinned plum aroma and flavour.

 

The 2009 Selección de Añada (yep, that’s nearly 9 years old!) is almost regal in its style. This wine is always given a minimum extra year developing in bottle after its 36 months on its lees, before release. It is a splendid white wine, at around 30€ it’s expensive – but so is a Rolls Royce! Custard fruit on the nose, supported by a creamy nuttiness, perhaps hazelnuts. On the palate it has body, presence, but not attitude – it is the personification of elegance.

 

One of its beauties, Javier told us, is that by varying the temperature at which it is served, it can partner each dish of a dinner party, from aperitif, through starter, fish course, meat, cheese and even dessert! What I’d give to test this theory! Seriously, this is fantastic wine!

 

Pazo de Señoran is also very proud of its two Aguadiente spirits – the one, water-coloured and 41º abv has an aroma of wood bark and subtle fruit with a long finish. The second is the yellow coloured, herb infused 37·5º abv with a panoply of herb and seed aromas, including camomile, coriander, star anis and bitter oranges – more to my taste than the above, though each sells out most years!

 

*Colin Harkness is a National and International Wine Judge. A member of the Circle of Wine Writers, Colin has been writing, and broadcasting, about Spanish wines for 21 years.

Fine Wine & Gourmet Dine Tour!

BREAKING WINE NEWS:

THE FINE WINE & GOURMET DINE TOUR

I’m delighted the super Fine Wine & Gourmet Dining Short Break Wednesday April 25th – Thursday April 26th in Jumilla, with an overnight stay at the luxurious Boutique Hotel, Casa Boquera, ideally placed between Yecla and Jumilla!

On the way to the hotel we will visit the excellent Bodegas Casa Rojo where we have a tour and Wine Pairing Lunch, where we will taste 6 of their excellent wines, made in different areas of Spain, each paired with a different dish!

At Casa Boquera, after checking into the luxury rooms, we will have dinner, served with their own Gold Medal winning Bodegas Boquera wine!

In the morning, after a buffet breakfast, we will make our way to Bodegas Finca Luzón, where we will tour their wine-making facility, followed by lunch in their cellar, served, with some of their top wines!

A very special two day break – for 285€ per person. For more details call 629 388 159 or e-mail colin@colionharknessonwine.com NB only 14 places left!

Please contact me asap!

Spanish Fizz to stem the Prosecco tide!

FIZZING GOOD WINES FROM BODEGAS INIESTA

As regular readers may remember, I used to be rather heavily involved in the world of football, from both amateur and professional perspectives. Like Spurs’ Manager, Pochettino (according to a recent BBC interview), I used to eat, sleep and breathe footy. (Seems like a good bloke – shame they’re going to be hammered tomorrow by the Mighty Reds – I’m writing this article on Sat. 3rd Feb!).

 

Nowadays, I don’t have the time – but it’s also because I’ve become rather less enamoured with Pele’s ‘Beautiful Game’ when I see the antics of players and clubs in today’s football. My thoughts on this, and indeed the reason why I’m writing about football in this, the wine column, can be seen archived here: www.colinharknessonwine.com, click Articles.

 

Of course, it has to be remembered that good news, doesn’t sell newspapers, so the good, often charitable works etc that lots of players and clubs are doing are not often reported. So, this week’s wine column (linked with the archives) attempts to redress the balance.

 

Professional footballer, Andrés Iniesta, of Spain and currently perhaps the world’s greatest club side, Barcelona CF, as a gesture of thanks to his father, for all the trips to training, matches, coaching etc when he was just a boy, went out and bought the land on which his father had toiled. And, pruning a long story short, built a wine bodega for his Dad, and indeed for the village. The details of this heart-warming story are in the archived article, mentioned above.

Andrés Iniesta, second from the left, one of the greatest professional footballers of his era – wine maker too!

Just before Christmas I heard that they had branched out into making sparkling wines as well as the still wines I’d tried, and were announcing the arrive al of their latest addition to the fizz portfolio. So, I called my pal, Andrés, well, not exactly – I contacted the bodega to ask if they would be able to send me a sample!

 

I’m always up for some sparkling wine, but I was particularly keen to try these as they are made by the same method as Prosecco – heard of Prosecco, have you?! It isn’t doing too badly, is it? Well, not surprisingly a number of wineries in different parts of the world are currently making sparklers by the Charmat Method, in an attempt to have a piece of the action.

 

Unlike the Traditional Method, where the second fermentation occurs in bottle, the Charmat Method has this happening in tank. The argument being that it makes a lighter, more delicate style of fizz, than Cava – oh and that other one from France, etc! It’s also less expensive – which, of course is part of the appeal.

 

Bodegas Iniesta has decided to make their sparkling wine, mostly, in a lightly drier style, and crucially, they are not using the Glera grape variety, and of course their vines are growing in different soils with a different climate. It’s the Charmat Method, but it aint Prosecco.

 

I was impressed. Their Corazon Spumante White is a blend of Macabeo and Verdejo and this alliance, made to the Extra Dry style (in fact, at 12 – 14 grms/litre, the driest end of that style, really works. Firstly, as the cork is gently pulled, the escaping ‘sigh’ at first exudes a pleasant floral fragrance, in tandem with fruit notes  – some baked apple (we can thank the Macabeo for this), with ripe pear and kiwi. For me it’s this inherent fruitiness that puts it a distance above Prosecco! Try this with SE Asian food!

 

Whilst all three of the fizz portfolio are well packaged in nicely shaped bottles with pretty labels, the ladies will certainly admire the Corazón Rosé. We really like this wine – it’s made to the Provençal style in terms of its very pale pink, so looks compelling in the glass, and, were I asked, I’d say it has 12 grms sugar/litre, though the notes tell us it is again 12 – 14.

 

There are cherries on the nose and the palate, again that fruit element is to the fore, with some fresh pomegranate juiciness. This will be brilliant with mushroom risotto, and indeed other rice dishes, though not too spicy. It’s also interesting to know that it is made with the Bobal red wine grape variety, giving it a little extra body for some lighter meat dishes.

 

Finally, the new release Corazón Spumante Moscato! For me this is a dessert wine, and a great way to finish off the evening, for those with a sweeter tooth. Lovers of the UK supermarket Proseccos will delight in this one particularly. It’s fun, with Jasmine flowers and white rose petals on the nose and a grapey, raison flavour. Plus, considerably in its favour, considering the copious volumes drunk by admirers of its Italian rival, it’s just 5·5%!!  You can buy them all online at www.bodegainiesta.es

 

colin@colinharknessonewine ; Twitter @colinonwine ; Facebook Colin Harkness ; Youtube Colin Harkness On Wine

EL SALZE – MONASTRELL, AND SOME!

 

It’s just two years since I was invited to taste a new wine from Bodegas Vins del Comtat within the hallowed portals of DOP Alicante’s headquarters. The Vins del Comtat Monastrell approved by all the journalists in attendance, including myself, the only foreigner.

It was on the basis of this value for money wine that I contacted owner, David Carbonell, asking if he may have any other tasty secrets in his closet. I was impressed, not just with the quality of the wines, but also their sensible prices – the quality/price ratio has to be an important consideration when buying wines, of course. The resulting article has been archived and can be seen here: www.colinharknessonwine.com click Articles and scroll down a little.

 

So, when I was contacted again by DOP Alicante advising that the wine’s ‘big brother’ was just about to be released I contacted David with some alacrity. It’s a solid bodega crafting consistently good quality wines. Therefore when a new wine is trumpeted onto the scene I was pretty sure it would be a good one for Cork Talk readers, and, ok, for me too!

 

You may have heard a lot about ‘Single Estate’ and/or ‘Single Vineyard’ wines. Let’s be honest, it’s a marketing ploy – both phrases strike a chord that smacks of higher quality, premium wines. And mostly, it’s correct – as indeed it is in this case.

 

Perhaps you remember the entertaining Oz Clarke & James May wine series on TV, where, at a blind tasting, two wines made from the same variety, in exactly the same way, and in adjacent plots owned by the same winery, were markedly different in aroma, flavour, depth et al? It may sound odd, I know, but there is plenty of evidence to bask this up. It’s a question of the make up of the soil in which the vines are growing, the aspect to the sun, the micro-micro climates that each vineyard enjoys – well, in short, the differing terroirs.

 

In this case the ‘single estate’ gives its name to the wine, El Salze. It’s an area of vineyards adjacent to each other at an altitude of 630 metres above sea level. The vineyards enjoy a Mediterranean climate, away from the actual Med, where temperatures are almost unbearable for vines. Inland, and at this altitude there is a significant diurnal temperature variation during the growing season, when it’s most needed.

 

It’s a win-win situation for the vines, there is (easily, I give you the beached tourists!) plenty of sunshine to ripen the grapes, and there’s also respite at night (I give you also, poetry!). And what of those vines?

 

Well, they are old, that’s 40 – 60 yrs, Monastrell vines planted and cultivated in the traditional manner, that’s kept in the bush (goblet) shape without being attached to posts and wires. Such vines have to dig deep for their nutrients – their roots can reach 10 metres in length, and of course, they have to be adapted to a climate that sees little rainfall (decreasing year on year, actually).

 

Now, as Cork Talk readers know, a vine has to suffer to give of its best, so you’d expect these grapes to few, but rich as you like! And, judging by the finished product i.e. the wine, you’d be correct!

 

On opening there escapes a noticeable plum fruit aroma, tempting – but don’t taste just yet. Wait for back-up – as there is also a certain mountain herb aroma (bay leaf and faint traces of thyme). In the glass it’s deeply coloured and this depth is found also on the palate. It’s a rich wine that fills the mouth with its plum flavour and there’s a greater complexity provided by its 12 months in lightly toasted new oak barrels of 500 litres capacity.

 

I wonder if David has an interest in fishing, not that I’d pair this wine with very many (any?) fish dishes? It’s just that, in a manner of speaking the Vins del Comtat Monastrell that I tasted in 2016 acted like bait for me! I’m hooked on these wines and I’ve not been let down by the full-bodied El Salze (12€), a step up in quality with an admirable length, and bags of pleasure! (www.vinsdelcomtat.com/en)

 

Contact Colin: colin@colinharknessonwine.com  Twitter @colinonwine

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