Summery stuff

02-Jul-11 - Some very summery wines have come my way recently: as always, prices are approximate and taken from wine-searcher.com, pictures from the various websites.

Bodegas Chivite, Cintruénigo (Navarra)
Profile from THE NEW SPAIN (2004 edition):
www.chivite.com, bodegas@chivite.com
EST. 1647 - The company as it is today dates from 1860, although the winery itself was completely refurbished in 1990, and a brand new bodega was completed in 2000 at the family's Señorío de Arínzano estate in Aberin [now a Vino de Pago in its own right]. There are 550 ha of vines in total in the family's three estates, Chivite is by far the biggest producer and exporter in Navarra, and the wines are invariably excellent. The firm is currently run by the eleventh generation of the family: Fernando Chivite is the winemaker.

2009 Gran Feudo Edición Rosado Sobre Lías - Tempranillo/Garnacha/Merlot - 13.5% abv - €6.50
Gran Feudo is the 'basic' range of wines from Chivite, and the rosado has always been a popular seller, but this is something different, aged on its lees with frequent batonaje and aged for two years in tank and bottle. The result is something rather more special - resting on the lees has given it more body but without sacrificing the lyrical, perfumed, character of the wine, with crisp fruit, fresh acidity and an excellent length. 18/20
Interestingly, this version is bottled in a clear glass bordelesa (the 'basic' rosado is in a flute) and has a sticker claiming that it will be 'excellent until 2013'. I believe it - bottle-aged rosado is rather rare, as it something of a risk for the marketing department, but as this case shows, it really does add value to the development of the wine.

Adega Pazos de Lusco, Alxén-Salvaterra do Miño, (Condado do Tea, Rías Baixas)
www.lusco.es
The last time I was at Lusco it was still a small concern with six hectares of vines, belonging to a local wine-merchant, before being taken over by Dominio de Tares (see below). The winery is housed in a splendid 16th-century palace, and the wines are exemplary:

2009 Lusco Albariño - 13% abv - 6 months on the lees - €13.50
Really classic Albariño with summer flowers on the nose and peachy fruit on the palate, lovely balance, ripe, and simply delicious. 17/20

2009 Pazo Piñeiro Alabriño - 13% abv - 6 months on the lees - €20
This is the 'single vineyard' wine from 30-year-old vines immediately surrounding the Pazo, with only a small production of some 3,500 bottles a year. Like the Lusco it has all the fruit and fragrance of the Albariño, but the age of the vines shows through in a slightly richer mid-palate and a long, warm finish which is still completely dry. 18/20

Dominio de Tares, San Román de Bembibre (Bierzo)
This originally mainly red-wine bodega is based in Bierzo, but recently bought Pazos de Lusco in Rías Baixas. Their red wines will be featured in a later post, but here is one of their whites:

2009 Dominio de Tares Godello - 13% abv - fermented in Allier with six months on the lees - £21.95
I love the Godello - sometimes known as the 'second' white grape of north-western Spain but I have to confess that I feel both it and the Albariño are much better in their delicate, pure state than fermented in barrel. The winemakers, of course, use the barrel to add another dimension to the wine, in this case not just the delicate, herby fruit of the grape but some warm and lightly-toasty oak hints and, indeed, it has a lovely balance and a warm, ripe length whilst remaining dry. It's an 18/20 wine but, I think, not for me.

AND I NEARLY FORGOT...
There's a new Vodka on the market. This may not seem like a summer drink, but we like it after 24 hours in the freezer, drunk neat from shot glasses. The only trouble is that it's a bit too easy to drink on a hot afternoon...

Legend of Kremlin 'Russian Vodka de Luxe' - 40% abv - plus or minus £30.00, depending where you shop.
It is served, it is claimed, at official Russian functions, made to an ancient monkish recipe and pot-distilled. It was launched with a blaze of events, starting in Harrods, and with London's leading mixologists creating cocktails around it. I don't know about you but if you're going to use vodka as a cocktail base the cheap stuff from the corner off-licence will do it just as well, and if a vodka is any good then it deserves to be enjoyed on its own. So is it?
Well, yes it is: it has the authentic Russian flavour - good, hearty grains, a slightly nutty mid-palate and a soft, gentle and very long finish despite its strength. I liked it a lot - 18/20

Stop Press 15-Nov-11: it's now in some Sainsbury's 

stores at £25

Remember that you can usually find wines at

www.wine-searcher.com

To sponsor a weblink or picture for any post, please contact john@johnradford.com

Hotel and Restaurant Reviews - the Whingers

30-Jun-11 - Because I travel a fair amount I have often used tripadvisor to look at hotels and restaurants around the world, and, last autumn, I became a contributor. It's not paid, of course, but it does give ordinary travellers an opportunity to have their say about where they've stayed and where they've eaten.

One thing I have noticed, however, is the wide disparity of the views expressed: some reviewers will give a place five stars and say it was the best stay of their life, others will give it one star and say it was rubbish. My mum used to run a hotel in Matlock, Derbyshire, and we were all well aware that some people are never satisfied, no matter what you do. We can all smile at the serial whingers (and travellers from one particular country are the main offenders) who, for example, stay in a budget hotel and complain that it doesn't have a minibar/air-conditioning/room service; one of my favourites was a review from a couple who were pickpocketed at the local tube station, and somehow this was the hotel's fault!

Reading some of them, however, reminded me of a story I heard a long time ago, can't remember when:

In the days when cities were walled, and the gates closed and guarded at night, there was a certain city and, about a couple of hundred metres in front of the gate, there was an old man, sitting on a rock, who would talk to travellers as they arrived. On one day he was approached by a traveller who asked "what are the people like in this city?" The old man asked "what were they like in your last city?" "Wonderful," replied the traveller. "Generous, hospitable, funny, welcoming - just wonderful." The old man nodded: "I think you'll find that the people in this city are much the same."

Later in the day, another traveller arrived and asked "what are the people like in this city?" The old man asked "what were they like in your last city?" "Miserable bastards," replied the traveller." They'd cheat you, overcharge you, deliberately give you the worst food, even rob you... Just miserable." The old man nodded: "I think you'll find that the people in this city are much the same."

I think the moral of this tale is 'you get out what you put in.'

More Tastings... And Labels, Labels, Labels Please!

30-Jun-11 - Yes, I know, it's been ages, and I am trying to catch up, but since my last post I've been to Spain three times and done several away gigs in the UK, so, as ever, I'm trying to catch up.

First, though, a plea: I get samples of wine from all over the place, as part of consultancy projects, for researching articles and (at the moment) the Rioja book update, and sometimes even as a gift (thanks very much!). Many of them come with a brochure or explanatory leaflet, but the problem is that, as the bottles move from kitchen to cellar and back again, very often the paperwork becomes separated and I then can't tell who sent what (I do like to write and acknowledge receipt of samples). So I always ask 'please, please, please affix a sticky label to the bottle with a contact name, e-mail address, and some kind of guide price (ex-cellars, retail in country of origin or rrp in the UK)'. That way I can properly acknowledge where a wine has come from if I am recommending it and, if necessary, get further information about it. Something like this is perfect:

2008 Finca Estado Malbec

www.fincaestado.com

Roberto Mascagani

mascagni@fincaestado.com

€4 ex cellars

OK - these are some of the wines I've been trying lately. Prices, where quoted, are approximate and as listed by www.wine-searcher.com:

Bodegas Valduero, Gumiel del Mercado (Ribera del Duero)
Profile from THE NEW SPAIN (2004 edition)
www.bodegasvalduero.com, valduero@bodegasvalduero.com
EST. 1983 - in beguiling old Castilian cellars which were formerly part of a co-operative, this bodega has one of the region's most famous female consultant winemakers - Yolanda García - who has inspired a whole generation of young women to train in the profession. The bodega has 200 ha of vines and although it built a spanking new winery about 2 km out of town in the early 2000s, the oldest wines - and visitors - still go to the 16th-century labyrinth in Gumiel.

2008 García Viadero Albillo, IGP Castilla y León - 12% abv - £9-£10
Hurrah! Another formerly-despised grape variety back from the dead, proving the Radford apophthegm that there is no such thing as a crap grape, just crap winemaking. Under the skilled hand of Yolanda García the Albillo gives us a delicious, herby fruit, fresh acidity and a crisp, bone-dry finish. 17/20

2004 Valduero 6 Años Reserva Premium - old-vines Tempranillo - 14% - 24 months in oak (from 4 different countries) plus 48 in bottle - £55-£60
'Meaty', blackberry fruit, rich, subtle oak on the nose, gorgeous rich fruit and toasty oak on the foretaste with some working tannins under the surface, lovely fruit on mid-palate, tannins on length, needs another few years. Best 2014 onwards. 19/20

We team-tasted this with an £85 bottle of Rioja, and the Valduero won, especially with slow-roasted shoulder of lamb with leek and rosemary in a red-wine marinade. It had a neck label announcing that Robert Parker had given it 94 points. I didn't need to know that (although I do understand that, for the uninitiated, it's a useful marketing tool) but here's another Radford apophthegm, (paraphrased from the late and mightily unlamented Herman Göering) - 'when I hear the name 'Robert Parker' I reach for my revolver.'

Yolanda García, winemaker extraordinaire
(all pics from the bodega's website)

Bodega Estrella Murillo Carrascal, Fuente de Cantos, Badajoz (IGP Extremadura)
I'm not sure where this came from (no sticky label, not even a website address or telephone number on the bottle, and neither Google nor wine-searcher could find one) so, sorry, but if you'd like to get in touch I'll add the details later - come on, you types. It's no good making something worthwhile and then not telling anyone how to contact you!). Just one wine, but what a performer!

2007 Bodioncillo - old-vines Tempranillo - 14% - 12 months US Oak
Loved this to bits. They (whomever they are) generously sent three bottles, and I opened a second to see if the first was a flook, but it wasn't.

Background: some years ago I was in a vineyard in Andalucía which produced a white wine from an unbelievable cocktail of grapes, and in the tasting room I seemed to detect such as thyme, rosemary, sage and other herbal flavours. The winemaker explained that the vineyard was surrounded by wild herbs, and that he believed that the microflora from the herbs, carried by the wind, attached themselves to the bloom of natural yeast on the grape so that, during fermentation, some of the characteristics of those herbs flavoured the finished wine. (anybody remember those stories about Australian winemakers leaving eucalyptus leaves in with the grapes during the crush? Not really relevant but you know what I mean).

Well, this isn't from a high-altitude vineyard in Andalucía and it isn't white, but it does have those wonderful savoury herbal scents and flavours, particularly sage. As I haven't been able to contact the winery I don't know the situation of the vineyards, but the palate has lovely, rich Tempranillo warmth and fruit, and the finish is truly savoury. 18/20. Sorry I can't tell you where to get it but I did find a Spanish website (www.santa-elena.com - it's their pic.) which is offering it locally in Extremadura for an astonishing €4.75, which makes it for me the best-value wine of 2011 so far.

One that (almost) got away!
In a previous post (24-Apr-11) I mentioned l'Avi Arrufi ('wrinkly grandpa') from Celler Piñol in the DO Terra Alta, but later discovered another sample from the same bodega (no sticker!!), and from their organic range (pic.: www.vintageroots.com):


2008 Sacra Natura (organic) - 14% abv - French oak - £9
'hearty' nose with soft, warm fruit, starts blackcurranty and then goes to damsony, big spice on the mid-palate, good weight, warmth, ripeness, big structure with tannins on the finish, alcohol a bit prominent - needs food. 16/20

 Salentein wines newly on the UK market: Trade distributor Matthew Clark has taken on the portfolio from this Argentine company, and they very kindly sent me a couple of samples.

2010 Callia Reservado Torrontés, Tulum Valley, San Juan - 13.5% - £7.50
I love what they are doing with the Torrontés in Argentina, although I'm told that it's not the grape of the same name as grown in Spain and Portugal. It does, however have a delicious 'crunchy' fruit with some herby characteristics, and an underlying richness whilst remaining completely dry on the finish. This one apparently won the trophy in the 2011 Argentine wine awards, and justly so - fantastic value, too. 18/20

2009 Portillo Pinot Noir, Uco Valley, Mendoza - 13.5% - £6.80
This was something of a revelation. I have been to the Uco Valley (see post of February, 2008), and its high-altitude vineyards really do provide opportunities for grapes such as the Pinot Noir to ripen well without excessive sugar-levels. This particular wine had a nose of  fresh cherry fruit, clean and delicate, which followed through on the palate, with delicious, lovely fruit, not noticeably Pinot Noir but some richness, nice warm, long finish. Just delicious, and another fantastic-value wine. 18/20
The reason it was a revelation is that, unlike many Pinot Noir wines from hotter countries, it wasn't trying to be Burgundy or New Zealand or even southern-Chile PN, but had a character all its own. Should be a winner.

Remember that you can usually find wines at

www.wine-searcher.com

To sponsor a weblink or picture for any post, please contact john@johnradford.com