Spain's White Gems - RESULTS

Thanks to all the members and guests that came out last Tuesday to taste some fantastic white wines.  We had a great turnout and everyone in attendance had the chance to taste some of the more unique wines that Spain has to offer.  The wines showed quite well, many full of bright citrus fruit, while others were more rustic and full.

Our guest speaker for the evening was Paul Giroux of Family Wine Merchants.  Two of the wines that we were tasting this evening are from his portfolio (the 2009 Celler Cal Pla, SL - Mas d'en Compte and the 2012 Torres - Vina Esmeralda Catalunya,).  Paul was also kind enough to provide the reception wine for the evening, a 2011 Henry of Pelham Chardonnay, which went over quite well with everyone at the tasting.

All the wines that were in the tasting were quite well received, but the unanimous winner of the evening was the 2012 Torres - Vina Esmeralda Catalunya, scoring 1's across the board. This was one of Paul's wines and he was also able to correctly identify it during the blind tasting.  It was describes as having bright citrus fruit, with a medium long finish, and that it was a perfect wine for this time of year.

And here are the final rankings:

Name of Wine (in order poured)	Group Ranking	Guest Ranking
A - 2012 Jean Leon Chardonnay $18.95	6	6
B - 2010 Bodega Del Abad - Abad dom Bueno Godello $15.75	5	5
C - 2011 Martin Codax - Burgans Albarino $17.95	4	4
D - 2012 Torres - Vina Esmeralda Catalunya, Spain $14.95	1	1
E - 2011 Bodegas La Emperatriz Sl - Finca La Emperatriz Viura $15.95	7	7
F - 2012 Beronia - Viura, Rioja $14.95	8	8
G - 2011 Fuente Elvira Verdijo Rueda Spain Verdijo $15.75	3	3
H - 2009 Celler Cal Pla, SL - Mas d'en Compte $27	2	2

Spain's Overlooked Gems - White Wines - in April

Next month, Toronto Vintners' Club investigates Spain's Overlooked Gems - White Wines!  Recently, winemakers in Spain have revolutionized the white wine industry. The past few years have been paramount in qualitative terms and the character of the better-known white varieties has increased enormously. The result? Wonderful whites of international stature. On April 8, TVC will taste 8 wines that represent the diversity that is Spain.  Our guest speaker will be Paul Giroux from Family Wine Merchants which imports two wineries from which we'll be tasting: Torres and Jean Leon.

Theme: Spain's Overlooked Gems
Date:  Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Time: 6:00 PM Reception Wine; 6:20 PM Main Event
Place: U of T Faculty Club, 41 Willcocks Street, Toronto ON
Cost:  TVC Members: $52;  Guests/Non-Members:  $52
Buy Tickets (Please note that all ticket sales are FINAL!)

Spanish Reds - Modern Developements Ratings

We had a strong turnout for our Spanish Reds tasting this past Tuesday April 12, 2011, when we tasted some truly remarkable wines from all four corners of Spain.

Our guest speaker for the evening was Charles Jewett.  Charles has been involved in the Ontario wine scene for many years and played a big role in spearheading an effort to provide Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) courses in Canada.

Charles briefly spoke about how Spanish wine makers are moving away from the old style of wine making in favor of much more modern and innovative techniques, and that these wines tonight would be some excellent examples of this new breed of wines.

With that, the group go on to tasting the wines, and overall, we seemed to agree with Charles when it came time to rank them, both scoring the  2004 Bodegas San Román, San Román, Tinto (Toro) as the top wine of the night.  Charles comments on this particular wine were that it had a lovely black cherry nose that made you sit up and say ``Hello!!``, it had elegant fruit and a full flavour with a long finish. 

Some of his other comments on the top wines of the night:

2000 Resalte de Peñafiel's Gran Resalte, Ribera del Duero - ranked 2nd
This wine was the most interesting and represented a classic style Spanish red that we don`t often see anymore. It had classic barnyard and leather notes on the nose. It has been aged in large wood barrels for 2 or 3 years, but that the oak didn`t over power the natural grape tannins.


2003 Baigorri Vino De Garage DOC, Rioja - ranked 3rd
This wine had great coffe and mocha aromas in the glass, but tasted more of just mocha and the sweetness that one would expect to accompany with it. Was full of strong and long flavours that lasted right to the end.


2004 Valdrinal Reserva - Ribera Del Duero
This wine had notes of coffee, chocolate and truffle on the nose and that continued on through the tasting.  It presented with some beautiful berry tannins, but finished slightly weak.  This wine would greatly benefit from another couple years in the cellar to really reach it`s true potential.

 The rest of the ranking are as follows:

Name of Wine (in order poured)	Group Ranking	Guest Ranking
A. 2005 Vall Llach Idus De Vall Llach DOC, Priorat	7	5
B. 2001 Cellers Fuentes, Gran Clos De J.M. Fuentes DOC	5	4
C. 2004 Bodegas Tardencuba, Valnuevo Seleccion (Toro)	8	7
D. 2004 Bodegas San Román, San Román, Tinto (Toro)	1	1
E. 2003 Baigorri Vino De Garage DOC, Rioja	3	6
F. 2006 Balbás Gran Reserva - Ribera del Duero	6	8
G. 2004 Valdrinal Reserva - Ribera Del Duero	4	2
H. 2000 Resalte de Peñafiel's Gran Resalte, Ribera del Duero	2	3

Spanish Reds - Modern Developments

Spain is such a fascinating, colourful and beautiful country with its history, geography, food, music, art, artists, and wine.  It simply has everything!  "When phylloxera destroyed the French vineyards in the 1860s and ’70s, many Bordeaux winemakers moved south. They brought with them their vines, their winemaking skills and the Bordeaux bottle. A century later, in the 1970s and ’80s, Spain decided to join the contemporary viniculture world, and Spanish wines began to improve."   NY Times, Frank Prial, Jan. 3, 2008.  Today, many Spanish wineries are very highly prized by oenophiles throughout the world.  Next month - April 12 - the Toronto Vintners Club continues its exploration and education of  Spanish modernist wines and focuses on red wines from several new and innovative winemakers.  Click on the links below for details about our event as well as to register and to join TVC if you are not already a member.

Theme: Spanish Reds - Modern Developments
Date:  Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Time: 6 PM
Where: Faculty Club, 41 Willcocks St., Toronto
Cost: TVC Members $69; Non-Members: $85  (NOTE: the price includes appetizers)
Register / Buy Tickets:  http://www.onlineregistrations.ca/tvcevent4/
Join TVC http://www.onlineregistrations.ca/torontovintners/

Surprises!

Our "Spain - New World Wines" event was an evening of surprises. To start off, guests were served hors d'oeuvres in the lounge of the lovely Faculty Club along with a lovely and very reasonably priced reception wine from VALDRINAL located in the prestigious D.O. Ribera del Duero region of Spain which lies approximately 2 hours north of Madrid. People were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the wine for the price - around $19. The wine was supplied by Cellar D'Or Fine Wines so please contact Cellar D'Or to order this wine.

Behind the scenes, the club directors were dealing with an unexpected surprise - 2 of the wines shipped from the cellar were not Spanish! A mix-up in the inventory resulted in two French wines being delivered instead and there was nothing that could be done about it at that late stage. Fortunately, the most expensive Spanish wines had been delivered to us and the French substitutes that had bought for a future Rhone tasting were also very expensive. So attendees drank some very good wine over the evening.

But the biggest surprise was later in the tasting when attendees discovered just how good the Spanish wines were - certainly they were very good rivals for the traditional areas of Navarra, Rioja and Penedes. The overall quality, particularly of the most expensive wines, was excellent. The wines were full, very rounded, well balanced with good fruit, and had long finishes.

Our guest speaker, Barry Brown - President of the Spanish Wine Society, added his usual blend of humour and vast experience of visiting wineries in Spain to the evening and gave us his comments about the wines while guests drank the wines and munched on appetisers served by the U of Toronto Faculty Club wait staff.



Rankings by our Guest Speaker in his order of preference (with several ties because he loved them all)
1. 2005 Mas Doix, Salanques (Priorat) $88
2. 2004 Alion (Ribera del Duero) $93
2. 2004 Cesca Vicent Abat Domenech (Priorat) $59
2. 2004 Bodegas Castano, Casa Cisca Monastrell (Yecla) $65
2. 2006 Alvaro Palacios, Les Terrasses (Priorat) $40
6. 2004 Costers del Siurana Clos de L'Obac (Priorat) $85

Group Rankings
1. 2004 Alion (Ribera del Duero) $93
2. 2004 Bodegas Castano, Casa Cisca Monastrell (Yecla) $65
3. 2005 Mas Doix, Salanques (Priorat) $88
4. 2004 Cesca Vicent Abat Domenech (Priorat) $59
5. 2004 Costers del Siurana Clos de L'Obac (Priorat) $85
6. 2006 Alvaro Palacios, Les Terrasses (Priorat) $40

Spain's 'New World' Wines

In April, TVC will explore newer, up-and-coming regions of Spain that are at the forefront of the qualitative push to rival the best of Rioja, Penedes, etc. We feature 4 wines from Priorat, 2 from Toro, and one each from Yecla and Ribera del Duero. As you can see below, these wines fetch quite high prices but promise to evolve for many years to come. This will provide our attendees with an opportunity to sample these winemakers’ products and then buy and cellar wines from more recent vintages. These wines promise to deliver pleasure for many years to come at a fraction of the cost of wines from Bordeaux.

Event Details
Date: Wed. April 22, 2009
Time: 6 PM
Price: TVC Members: $65; Guests: $80 (includes appetizers)
Venue: Faculty Club, Univ. of Toronto, 41 Willcocks St. Toronto, Ontario M5S 1C7
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To Register / Buy Tickets Please note that ALL ticket sales are final!
Join TVC

The Wines

2004 Bodegas Castano, Casa Cisca Monastrell (Yecla) $65
the estate’s flagship wine, is 100% old-vine Monastrell (70+ years of age) aged for 14 months in American oak. Dark ruby/purple-colored, it emits an attractive array of Asian spice, tobacco, cedar, and blueberry pie aromas. On the palate additional flavors of cherry and chocolate emerge. The wine has a firm structure, excellent balance, and a long finish. It should evolve for several years and drink well through 2022. Jay Miller: 92.

2004 Alion (Ribera del Duero) $93
Bodegas Alion was started by the renowned estate of Vega Sicilia in 1991. Grapes are sourced from vineyards next to the winery and from Vega Sicilia’s own vineyards at Valbuena. Eighteen hectares of Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) form the actual Alion estate. The 2004 Alion is inky purple-colored with an alluring perfume of toasty oak, lavender, violets, mineral, blackberry, and blueberry compote. This is followed by a full-bodied, rich, opulent, wine with incipient complexity, and notes of licorice, mocha, and espresso emerging on the palate. The lengthy finish is pure and persistent. Give it 3-5 years in the cellar and drink it through 2025. Jay Miller: 96.

2004, Bodegas Maurodos, San Roman Tinto (Toro) $55
100% Tinta de Toro, was aged for 22 months in French and American oak, mostly new, prior to bottling without filtration. It is purple-colored with a lovely perfume of toasty oak, mineral, spice box, violet, lavender, and blackberry. Sweet, layered, and structured, this muscular effort will evolve for 5-7 years in the cellar and drink well through 2025. Jay Miller (Wine Advocate): 92/100.

2004 Tardencuba Valnuevo Seleccion (Toro) $52
Fermented with native yeasts and bottled without fining or filtration. The 2004 spent 16 months in new French oak. Aromatics include wood smoke, toast, saddle leather, scorched earth, and blackberry. Opulent, spicy, rich, and structured, it will become more complex with 6-8 years of additional cellaring and drink well through 2030. Jay Miller: 93+/100.

2004 Cesca Vicent Abat Domenech (Priorat) $59
Family owned since the 13th century. 50% Garnacha and 50% Cabernet Sauvignon grown in slate and gravel soils. Aged for 12 months in French oak. Saturated purple in color, the nose offers an array of elements including violets, mineral, spice box, vanilla, black cherry and black currants that is quite bewitching (beautiful perfume is a trademark of the top 2004 Priorats). On the palate the wine is full-bodied, opulent, and beautifully delineated. It has enough structure to evolve for 4-6 years (or more) and provide pleasure through 2020. Jay Miller: 93+.

2004 Costers del Siurana Clos de L'Obac (Priorat) $85
The purple-colored 2004 Clos de l’Obac exhibits a beautiful perfume of spice box, mineral, kirsch, red and black currants, and black cherry. Intensely fruity on the palate, it is already complex, sweet, and layered. The oak, tannin, and acidity are nicely integrated and the finish is long and pure. Give this stylish wine 3-5 years of cellaring and drink it through 2022. Jay Miller: 95.

2005 Mas Doix, Salanques (Priorat) $88
Blend of 65% Garnacha, 20% Carinena, and the balance Syrah, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon, is aged in French oak for 14 months. It has a glass-coating purple-hue with an alluring bouquet of cedar, smoke, slate, blueberry, and black cherry. Youthful and structured on the palate, this potentially complex effort will profit from 5-7 years of additional cellaring. It will be at its best from 2015 to 2030. J. Miller: 93.

2006 Alvaro Palacios, Les Terrasses (Priorat) $40
[Alvaro] Palacios who comes from a famous Rioja winemaking family (owners of the Bodegas Palacios Remondo), apprenticed with Christian Moueix at Château Pétrus and Château Trotanoy. The wine has ripe fresh flavors of black cherries, blackberries and plums with coffee accents. Smooth and graceful with a long and fruity finish. Collectors know that Les Terrasses is highly scored and highly sought-after year after year.