RESTAURANTE TIMON HAS THE BOTTLE!
THE TELITEC/BLU PROPERTY TASTING TOUR HITS CALPE!
It’s a worry. I’m wondering if I may be turning into a bottle fetishist!
Whilst the DO Rías Baixas, Bodegas Palacio de Fefiñanes, Albariño wine inside the bottle is a real treat (showcasing classic white flower aromas and white peach flavours), I have to admit that I also chose this wine because it’s in a magnum!
A magnum bottle of wine holds 1·5 litres – two bottle’s worth, but it’s not the quantity that impresses, it’s the actual bottle! Size isn’t everything, I know, but on occasion, it helps!
I’d say this Albariño was the leading wine out of the five we tasted recently at the jointly sponsored Blu Property Group/Telitec Tasting Tour in Restaurante Timon, Calpe. Both companies have clients along the Costa Blanca, as well as inland, and we thought a Tasting Tour, incorporating the most populated towns would, like the wine and tapas, go down rather well!
We started the event, as we nearly always do, with a Cava. We were there for a celebration, a night out with beautiful views of the Mediterranean, which ebbs and flows almost to the restaurant door. What better celebratory drink is there here in Spain? However Aria, from Bodegas Segura Viudas, is not simply a refreshing glass of bubbles.
That said, the Brut Nature (the driest possible style of sparkling wine) is certainly fresh with a pleasing acidic lift, but there’s quality fruit there too, with a little depth to round off the experience. Made with all three of the classic Cava grapes: Macabeo, Parellada and the oddly spelt Xarel.lo it also has the benefit of having spent 15 months ‘en rima’ (resting on its lees, the dead yeast deposit which gently settles in the neck of the bottle as it is stored, practically upside-down).
Six months more than the DO Cava permitted minimum of 9 months ‘en rima’ adds weight, body and depth to those celebratory bubbles. Served with a smoked salmon & dill tapa – well you can’t go wrong!
Of course, many readers will know that Albariño, from Spain’s north western outpost, Galicia, is very often served with shellfish, though this wine has the body to accompany other dishes too. We followed the traditional route and served it from the magnums (did I mention the magnums?) with a prawn tapa, with which is made a perfect marriage.
A pale golden colour in the glass, the wine immediately starts to give off wonderful fruit-laced floral wafts of aroma – causing, I noticed, some tasters to stop their conversations for a while, searcing for the source of the lovely perfume that had arrived on the tables! You may not find white peaches, or the lighter coloured fresh apricots that can be found here in Spain, but it doesn’t matter – it’s glorious fruit, and you don’t need to define it!
Now if we are taking fragrance – the next wine, a rosado from the famous and highly praised Bodegas Arzuaga, DO Ribera del Duero, really stood out, aroma wise! Ribera del Duero is rightly lauded for its super red wines and well, as rosé wines are made from black red wine grapes, it’s stands to reason that there should also be some very good rosados made there too!
Arzuaga’s Rosae is made from 100% Tempranillo coming from quite young vineyards that are over 900 metres above sea level. Serve it chilled, but not really cold and you’ll find that some charming rose petal aromas float upwards from the glass. It has a delicate mouthfeel and yet as it warms on the palate you’ll feel it to be quite rounded and full flavoured for a rosado wine. The very pleasant surprise package of the night!
Our first red wine weighed in at 15% abv – feeling full in the mouth with some obvious weight. Tres Picos 2013 is from Bodegas Borsao, D.O. Campo De Borja and is made with Garnacha, Spain’s 2nd most planted red wine variety. It’s a bold wine with a deep black cherry colour and some of that fruit flavour on the palate too.
Look also for some black plums and blackberry – there’s plenty of dark fruit in there for sure. Just 5 months ageing in oak has also added some depth and a little complexity. I’d like to taste this wine in a year’s time, when I think it will be softer on the palate, but retaining its fruit for sure.
My magnum fetish was satisfied once again with the final wine! Zuazo Gaston Crianza 2010 is a D.O.Ca Rioja wine was also served from large 1·5 litre bottles. It’s a Rioja wine that comes within most people’s budgets and whilst there is a certain elegance there, it paled a little in comparison with fuller and richer style of the Tres Picos.
Another successful night on the Tasting Tour and several of those present will also be at the next – which is at the Swiss Hotel Moraira, Thursday 12th November starting, as do they all, at 7pm. There are some places left – please contact me to reserve! Please also note that The Teltitec Blu Property Tasting Tour will be at Nox in Javea, Weds 25th November; and finally at Republic, Denia, 10th December!
Contact Colin: colin@colinharknessonwine.com and through his website www.colinharknessonwine.com and you can follow Colin on Twitter, @colinonwine
