Gerry Dawes's Spain

GerryDawes

Gerry Dawes was awarded Spain's prestigious Premio Nacional de Gastronomía (National Gastronomy Award) in 2003. He writes and speaks frequently on Spanish wine and gastronomy and leads gastronomy, wine and cultural tours to Spain. He was a finalist for the 2001 James Beard Foundation's Journalism Award for Best Magazine Writing on Wine. In December, 2009, Dawes was awarded the Food Arts Silver Spoon Award in a profile written by José Andrés.

RSS

e-Mail

Best of Spanish Wines: Author's Choice

05 de Octubre de 2008

Comentarios

When our Guest writer Gerry Dawes was asked by a magazine editor to write about the Top Thirty Spanish Wines, you can rest assured that our 'Wine Taliban ' would not be talking of the powerful and bold Spanish wines with a lot of oak. Here are his picks of the Alternate Top Wines instead .

Top Thirty: When my editor at Santé asked me to do a piece on some thirty top Spanish wines, I immediately realized that among the top thirty wines according to conventional wisdom were few wines that would make my personal top thirty list, which includes wines ranging from Catalan Cavas, whites from Galicia and Rueda, Navarra rosados, unoaked young reds from Bierzo, a few of the more restrained new-wave red wines and a blossoming genre of dessert wines from the Mediterranean coast, Navarra, Andalucia and the Canary Islands. Furthermore, my recent experiences with Spanish wines suggest that most wine drinkers are much happier drinking the wines on my list, than doing mortal combat with so-called blockbuster monsters that reap all the kudos in both the American and Spanish press.

But, before I get to the wines I will be recommending, most of which will be well worth the wait, a long simmering rant is in order. Over the past several years, I have developed a love-hate relationship with Spanish wines. I love drinking Spanish wines that show elegance, nice ripe (but not overripe) fruit, balance, style, charm, and even terroir and go very well with food; I hate tasting and, especially, drinking many of the new wave of opaque black, jammy, low acid, alcoholic wines that are often lashed with enough new oak to start a lumber yard.

Albariño grapes at Do Ferreiro in Rías Baixas.

The Wine Taliban: The latter, if anecdotal evidence from many sommeliers, restaurateurs, veteran wine writers and even winemakers is reliable, many of these wines, despite their hefty price tags, are often left with a third to half a bottle on the table when the meal is finished. After tasting such wines for articles, I continue sipping them with dinner. I usually find that myself, my tasting companion, my assistant and many of my friends can barely finish a glass, if that, before switching to a wine that is more harmonious not only with the food, but with promoting good humor. I have been accused of being a wine Taliban, defending every last Spanish classic to the bitter end. Not so. I merely like good, well-balanced wines that are not overwhelmed with overripe blackberry jam, alcoholic heat (and its accompanying effects) and palate-scouring new oak. The wines I like complement food, be they modern styles or fifty-year old jewels from La Rioja.

Read the rest of the article and others by Gerry Dawes on the Indian Wine Academy website.

About the author

Gerry Dawes was awarded Spain's prestigious Premio Nacional de Gastronomía (National Gastronomy Award) in 2003. He writes and speaks frequently on Spanish wine and gastronomy and leads gastronomy, wine and cultural tours to Spain. He was a finalist for the 2001 James Beard Foundation's Journalism Award for Best Magazine Writing on Wine.

Mr. Dawes is currently working on a reality television

series on wine, gastronomy, culture and travel in Spain.

Experience Spain With Gerry Dawes: Culinary Trips to Spain & Travel Consulting on Spain

Gerry Dawes can be reached at gerrydawes@aol.com; Alternate e-mail (use only if your e-mail to AOL is rejected): gerrydawes@hotmail.com

Me gusta