Went to a wine tasting on the past, present, and future of Spanish wines, hitting many of the key regions. Enjoyed them all! Here are some quick notes on each, in order of tasting:
2021 Raventós i Blanc "Blanc de Blancs" [Catalunya]: "Not-technically-Cava" that tastes like Champagne. High acid, maybe a bit bready/yeasty, refreshing, and with a lot of pleasant bubbles.
2019 Ossian "Quintaluna" Verdejo [Segovia]: Sweet-ish, tropical fruits, round and soft on the palate. Made from 100+ year old, pre-phylloxera vines with a bit of oak.
2021 Leirana "Finca Genoveva" Albariño [Rias Baixas]: Very high acid, fruity (lemon-lime). Sharp, with a bit of sea salt in the finish. Vines planted in 1862.
2021 Emilio Moro "El Zarzal" Godello [Bierzo]: Yellow fruits and high acid, but less than the Albariño. Rich and hints of sweetness. Aged on lees and in French oak.
2012 R. López de Heredia "Viña Tondonia" Reserva – [Rioja]: Leather, baking spice, coconut, hints of herbs, and tons of red fruits (strawberry) that have been lightly cooked or macerated. Oaky, medium and round tannins.
2019 Bodegas Alión [Ribera del Duero]: Lots of oak, high tannins that are less fine than the previous wine. Stewed dark fruits, some baking spices sprinkled in.
2021 Álvaro Palacios "Les Terrases" Vinyes Velles [Priorat]: Vanilla blueberry pastry. Medium to light body, medium acid, some oakiness.
2021 Raúl Pérez "Las Gundiñas" [Bierzo]: High acid, some fruit (cranberries), a bit of woodiness. Overall pleasant.
2021 Bodegas Bernabeleva "Navaherreros" Garnacha [Sierra de Gredos]: Very light and bright red color. Good acid, active tannins, ripe fruit. Natty wine with some fun funkiness.
While these were all tasty, quality wines, my favorites were the López de Heredia "Viña Tondonia" and the Leirana "Finca Genoveva", with the Emilio Moro "El Zarzal" as best of the rest. Raúl Pérez and Bernabeleva were weird but in a very good way, while Alión was too tannic for me.
by hakupaku42
2 Comments
Drinking that very same Raventos this very minute! Gonna pull the trigger on that Tondonia one of these days
Beautiful tasting! I loved El Zarzal when I had it earlier this year. The Albariño sounds divine. I’m putting that and the Verdejo in my ever growing “To try” list.
Did you aerate the Alion? Sounds like it might benefit from it.
Where did you do the tasting? And finally, what was considered the future of Spanish wines?