A Tasting with Francisco Corpas from La Rioja Alta

The other week I got the chance to meet Francisco Corpas from La Rioja Alta and have a taste through their range of wines. La Rioja Alta, S.A. was originally founded in 1890 by five growers from the Basque and Rioja regions, in the Haro Station district of the north western corner of the Rioja region.

In 1988 they purchased and renovated the Lagar de Fornelos winery, which produces the Lagar de Cervera Albarino, 1989 saw them make the the decision to fund a new winery based in Ribera del Duero, Aster, then in 1995 saw the addition of the Torre de Ona winery, which is located in the heart of La Rioja Alavesa.

Their are many traditional aspects that they still employ throughout the whole group of wineries, they only use grapes that are grown on each estate, nothing is brought in. Originally they had their own coopers in the winery to produce their barrels, in 2002 they decided to re-establish this tradition and started shipping in wood from France and America, which they season over a two year period. They also still hand rack all the barrels every six months by candle light.

On to the wines;

2013 Lagar de Cervera
100% Albarino all from their own 100ha estate, where only 77ha is currently in production, the wine in the glass has a bright yellow colour with just a tinge of green to it. You these wonderful aromas apples and citrus which come through on the palate balanced with a lovely acidity which helps the flavours to linger on the palate that little bit longer. Have to say this is a great example of Albarino from Galicia, definitely worth trying.

2009 Aster Crianza
Produced from 100% Tinta del País (Tempranillo), the wine is aged in 100% French oak, 70% new barrels and 30% two year old barrels and bottled in July 2012, 50% was allowed to go through Malolactic fermentation giving it a slightly softer acidity. In the glass it had a deep ruby red colour, with pronounced aromas of dark fruit and spice. These came through on the palate with the spice separating out into Liquorice, Cedar and Mocha, it also had wonderfully fine and silky tannins and a lovely soft acidity which were all perfectly in balance with one another.

2009 Torre de Ona Reserva
This wine is a blend of 95% Tempranillo and 5% Mazuelo, it is aged for 24 months in 70% French oak (40% new barrels and 30% two year old barrels) and 30% Russian oak, the 70% in French oak was allowed to go through Malolactic fermentation, then a further 24 months in bottle. In the glass it had a bright ruby red colour, with pronounced aromas of dark fruit and spice. On the palate the spice again separated out into Liquorice, Cigar box and cedar with loads of dark fruit, cherries and blackberries. It had a lovely silky tannic structure and a soft acidity which again  just made your mouth water and help the flavours linger on the palate. I have to say this is a stunning wine.

2007 Vina Alberdi Reserva

100% Tempranillo which is fermented in stainless steel then aged for one year in new American oak and then a further year in 3 year old oak barrels before spending a further 24 months in bottle before release. In the glass you got this lovely bright ruby/cherry red colour, you got aromas of red berries and coffee with hint of balsamic coming through. These all came through on the palate with soft/silky tannins and a perfectly balanced amount of acidity, which again all go to produce another stunning wine.

2005 Vina Ardanza Reserva

Made from 80% Tempranillo and 20% Garnacha, these are aged for three years in three year old american oak before blending and bottling. It had a ruby red colour in the glass with a slight garnet rim to it. You got these wonderful aromas of jammy dark fruit and spice. On the palate the spice was dominant with Pepper, Vanilla and a touch of balsamic, while through the dark fruit came through from the background. Again it had these wonderfully soft, silky tannins and a perfectly balanced acidity.

2004 Gran Reserva 904

This one is a blend of 90% Tempranillo and 10% Graciano, the wine as with all the others is allowed to go through Malolactic fermentation before ageing for four years in four year old American oak barrels, then a further 5 years in bottle. In the glass it has this deep cherry red colour with a garnet rim to it, on the nose it had an abundance of spice, balsamic and cocoa. These all came through of the palate with a touch of Vanilla added in, lovely tannins and a perfectly balanced acidity. The length of flavours just kept on going, depth and complexity of the flavours was just absolutely stunning, but you wouldn't expect anything else from a wine of this quality and price.

1998 Gran Reserva 890

This wine is only produced in exceptional vintages, roughly three out of every 10. It is a blend of 95% Tempranillo, 3% Graciano and 2% Mazuelo, and the vines are all a minimum of 40 years old. After Malolactic fermentation the wine is then aged for six years in American oak and then a further six in bottle. The cherry red colour wasn't as deep in this wine as the 904 and it had a much more orange rim to it. On the nose their were pronounced aromas of smoke, spice, leather, cocoa, tobacco and a touch of vanilla with some gentle, almost candied fruit coming through from the background. Again the tannins were silky and soft, and balanced out with a soft but plentiful acidity, the length of flavour was just amazing, as was the one, but you really wouldn't expect anything else from a wine of this quality that's aged for 12 years before it's released for sale.

I have to say it's hard to find my favourite wine out of all of these, the two Gran Reserva's, as they should be were absolutely stunning, but their not your everyday drinking wine, definitely for that special occasion. For me though I have to say my favourite was the 2009 Torre de Ona Reserva, but if I'm honest you can't wrong with any of their wines, they're definitely worth taking one or two of them home to enjoy. 

A Trip to the Spar

When you’re in a hurry and the only place you can find to pick up a bottle is the local Spar, you may like me, think that all I’m going to be to get is a bottle a cheap and nasty Pinot Grigio or one of the uninteresting big brands, but don’t panic, all is not lost.

I had the opportunity recently to meet the guys from the Spar and to taste some of there own and exclusive label wines, which I have to say were very impressive and actually great value as well. Here are a few of my favourite;

Spar Chablis; this has aromas of green fruit and citrus, with these coming through on the palate, it has a delightful acidity with a touch of steely/minerality to it as well. Not quite a crisp as many other traditional Chablis, but this helps to make it a bit more approachable and hopefully enjoyable to more people, and great value at £10.99.

Chene St Louis Sancerre; with lovely aromas and flavours of gooseberries and a nice minerality to it, again the acidity is much softer than many of it’s counterparts, this however does not detract from it being a delicious wine, and great value at £10.99.

Valle Vento Barolo; this had a garnet colour to it in the glass, with the aromas and flavours dark fruits, cherries and plums, with a touch of spice coming through from the background. The tannins were fine and silky, the acidity was just enough to complement this, resulting in a great glass of wine and again exceptional value at £14.99.

Les Trois Couronnes Chateauneuf du Pape; this is a blend of 13 of the permitted varieties, including Grenache and Syrah, which all help to create big rich wine with a great depth of flavour. It had aromas and flavours of dark fruit and spice, wonderfully fine/silky tannins and just the right amount of acidity to balance it all out and make it a great glass of wine, all for £15.99.

Ursa Maior Rioja Reserva; a Tempranillo blend, this had lovely mature aromas and flavours of dried fruit, cherries, tobacco and a touch of sweet spice, Vanilla. Lovely silky tannin and a great acidity, I have to say this was perfectly balanced and probably my favourite of the day, and all for £9.99.

I have to say I was rather impressed with there selection of wines, and if I ever needed to grab a bottle or two and I came across a Spar, I wouldn’t have any hesitation in popping in and selecting one from there own range.

A 2001 Rioja Reserva from Coto de Imaz

As you can see from the picture, this bottle had been hanging around in my wine rack for some time, which I have to say is rare for me. Originally it was a present from my wife to be, from a business trip to Spain that she’d been on, and I'd been saving for the right occasion, which just so happened before Christmas.

Produced from the Tempranillo grape in Rioja Alta region by the El Coto de Rioja winery, which was originally founded in 1970, it took them almost 5 years to release their first vintage. According to their website, the winery experienced spectacular growth during the 90's, to become a leading Bodega amongst the Rioja Qualified Designation of Origin wines, and in 1997 it became the first Spanish winery group to be listed on the stock exchange.

The wine itself is vinified in stainless steel tanks, with up to 25 days maceration and pumping over to ensure the right balance between fruit and extraction, before spending 16 months in 225 litre new American oak barrels, followed by a further 3 year in bottle before being released.

In the glass it had a deep ruby colour, although at the edge you could see it turning a shade of orange from it’s age, on the nose you intense aromas of red berry fruit, but also spice such as vanilla coming through from the oak and it’s age,

On the palate these all came through beautifully, but with a complexity to them that was amazing, which was helped by the age of the wine, the tannin which fine and silky which just glided over your tongue and a tiny bit of acidity, just to help make your mouth water that little bit. The finish to this wine was just amazing and lingered around for ages, would I recommend this wine, absolutely, it was just delicious and enjoyable, I only wish the wife to be had bought more than one bottle home with her.

A Pair of Spanish Stunners

A little while ago I got sent two bottles of Spanish wine to review for the blog, for some reason, and I’m not quite sure why, but it’s not something I tend to drink very often or know a great deal about, I’ve only reviewed two Rioja's and a Cava for the blog; I haven't even touched on one of my favourite wines, Sherry!

 Vińa Pomal Reserva Rioja, 2005.

The Rioja region is in northern Spain where they are permitted to use Tempranillo, Viura, Garnacha, Graciano and Mazuelo to produce their wines, this one however is 100% Tempranillo. This wine will spend 18 months in American Oak with a further two years in bottle before its release; this is a requirement for the Reserva designation.

On pouring you had a deep ruby/purple colour and pronounced aromas of red cherries and red currents, coming through from the background you got some really nice sweet spice, predominantly liquorice. It had just the right amount of fine tannins with just enough acidity to make you mouth water, combine this with the aromas and favours and you got a well structured wine with an interesting complexity to it.

Scala Dei Cartoixa Priorat, 2005.

Priorat is situated in North East Spain, and covers an area of around 19,783h, of which around 5,000h are under vine, compared with a region such as Rioja which has around 49,776h. This gives you an idea of how small a region it is, all the vines are planted on terraced slopes between 100 – 700m above sea level. They are permitted to use Garnacha Tinta, Garnacha Peluda, Carinena, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah in the blend, with yields much lower than is actually permitted.

In the glass it was a much deeper ruby than the Rioja, with pronounced aromas of dark fruit, cherries and plums and loaded with the sweet spice of cinnamon, their was also a touch of minerality coming through from the back ground. You got all of these on the palate coming at you wave after wave; it had wonderfully juicy tannins and great acidity helping to let the flavours linger in your mouth for a long time. This was a stunningly well balanced and complex wine that I’m so glad that I had the opportunity to taste.

Both of these wines were beautiful with great flavours and structure that if you get the opportunity to try them, then I’d definitely recommend them, but my favourite was hands down the Priorat, as it was for the friends I had round to enjoy them, it was just absolutely stunning.