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(continued from Part I)

López de Heredia Viña Tondonia Gran Reserva 1954

Never too late to learn, I suppose! This is what I used to regard as a “Camblorada”! This was tried only thanks to different generosities simultaneously at play. Suffice to say that during Saturday lunch MaJesus brought me to her table and got me a good-sized pour of some mysterious liquid eventually identified as older than my parents. This was eye-opening to say the least. It boasted an amazing nose of leathery, marmalady fruit that seemed nowhere near the point of decay; rather on the contrary we agreed that the acidity would be better integrated in a few years! Merely 12% and with decent medium body, it showed complexity in spades and a long satisfying finish. 91+ and what a surprise… (in fact merely the first of many, for that same night the whites of Viña Tondonia would follow with even more dramatic results).

López de Heredia Viña Tondonia Blanco Gran Reserva 1981

I got a pour from María José López de Heredia in the small tasting glass I found available (this was Saturday evening and all the big Riojas were around, so it became impossible to steal another 488/15 stem after just three minutes). Even in such small glass the nose was truly captivating. The color alone is an impressive young-looking yellow, only showing a hint of those 20+ years at the rim. A five-year-old conventional release of albariño usually looks older than this. The nose is excellent with buttery-waxy notes of white fruit and loads of complexity, the lively acidity is of a citrusy sort (a tad too obviously lemony, perhaps), and the mouth is firmly dry. Quite a revelation. 91++

Three weeks later I’ve already bought the Blanco Reserva 1985 (for 5,10€ !) and the Blanco Reserva 1987 (for 12€). The white Gran Reservas are available but only from the producer, I think.

López de Heredia Viña Tondonia Blanco Gran Reserva 1964

This one I didn’t even ask for (such was the success of Mª Josés wines that I feared I’d have to queue for ever while she opened another fragile-looking bottle of the 64, which seemed to be too many of the attendants’ birthyear). But ever-helpful-and-generous Thurston and MaJesús came to my rescue, so I nosed Thurston’s glass and tasted MaJesús’s. Not a very academic procedure, perhaps, but equally satisfying: the 64 looks only marginally older than the 81, with very much the same acidity (yet transmitting a similar overall warmth that’s hard to explain, as the wine is only 12%) and liveliness. I guess at a certain moment there’s little complexity that an extra 17 years can impart and that one could appreciate… with a blue nose… in a small glass. 91+ too for lack of reference, but certainly ignoring the merits of ageing so darned fine!

Marboré 2001

I received Marboré 99 very enthusiastically as excellent news and rated it somewhere around 91 in its day. The wine is delicious, modern, and impeccably made. But I find it totally soulless. Since then I’ve always punished it with an 89. Maybe it’s me who’s wrong, but among the Veremeros there’s quite a following for this wine that I cannot share. And while the QPR is excellent at 18€ I still think they give points for value. Anyway I’ll give it another try. The 2001 made exactly the same impression on me as the 2000 had made a year ago: “Pretty solid effort, very drinkable already and a good food partner (somewhat too tamed already?), true-to-type but wanting distinction”…89

Mas d’en Compte Tinto 2000

This is one of my blurriest recollections from Saturday night sobaquillo. Good Priorat (and apparently not yet priced as such) with excellent fruit and soil expression. Possibly not dramatic enough for such a late hour (maybe 4 am) after such a blockbuster day. Retrying can do no harm. Around 89-90.

Mauro 2001

On Saturday evening there was only one table offering Riberas and I then realised (how lucid for Saturday evening!) that this was all the Ribera we had tried since the train. In fact Javier Zaccagnini was pouring Aalto and Mauro (so not even all properly Ribera) with his characteristic cheerful mood. I must confess that even being the Mauro lover that I am this 2001 left me very cold. Totally out of context in the middle of those galactic Riojas, my TN shows unusual frankness: “Very closed. Either I missed this or it missed me”. Sorry.

Mauro Vendimia Seleccionada 1998

All right. Six hours later we were standing in the Negresco with Spiegelau Authentis Bordeaux stems and salivating over the mere concept of having finally laid our hands on a bottle of this (darned RP rated it 94 or 95 and it simply disappeared overnight). This was one of our contributions to the sobaquillo and to me it certainly proved the stellar red of the night, a worthy contender among the star of the event. Textbook Vendimia Seleccionada nose (yeah, well, nobody ever tried to get away with such a vague descriptor and succeeded, but I mean it), that is a Mauro on steroids but nowhere near overdone: just the cherry, ink, wet earth, smoky oak, and lead pencil…boosted to the ^3 in perfect balance, even elegance. What a treat, what a mouthful, what a whoppingly looong finish. 93++ and on par with ANY wine tried that glorious weekend.

Mira 2001

We had just tried the 2000 (the one that’s 15,5% alcohol) and found it intensely plummy with monstrous body that became enjoyable only after 18 hours of air. The 2001 came as a sample that Choche brought to our table from God-knows-where. The alcohol is a mere 13,5% and the whole thing seems much more approachable though still unformed. Tentatively 89.

Molino Real 2001

While not on par (perhaps simply “not yet”) with the superb 2000 we had just retried the week before, this was such a pleasant surprise at Saturday lunch dessert time! It’s rare enough and far from cheap (30€ for a 50cl). The 2000 is the best European-styled dessert wine in Spain, period. Much as I like Chivite’s Moscatel Vendimia Tardía Colección 125, this Molino Real is another gem coming from Telmo Rodríguez, this time from the Axarquía in Málaga. The 2001 is delicately pale (though barrel fermented with a short period in new French oak) and it sports excellent acidity as well as sweet mouthcoating unctuousness. Exquisitely perfumed with telltale Muscat nose of orange blossom, grapeskin, and musk, this wine always gives complex mineral notes from the slate hills in the mountains where the vines are grown. Available only in 50 cl bottles, this is a wine to dream of by the magnum. When a second bottle hit our table…heaven. 91++

Osborne PX 1827

Excellent QPR for this medium weight that’s appropriately raisiny and dense without stepping decidedly in the constellation of the great. Good toffee notes and excellent persistence in this convincing example. 88

Pegaso Barrancos de Pizarra 1999

Again another heavily mineral wine from Telmo Rodríguez, in this case a 15% alcohol (a figure totally impossible to guess from tasting) Garnacha from old vines in the obscure province of Ávila. Being a 99 it was possibly more mature than most of the other wines offered on Saturday morning, but even if I was tricked into a higher rating by a deliciously fragrant nose…I’d gladly plead guilty!
“Excellent fine nose, all subtlety, though no shy of power. Perfect expression of red berry+cherry fruit deftly touched by oak and considerably enriched by mineral notes.” 92

Pirineos Rosado 2003

You know I’m no rosé drinker… 85

Remírez de Ganuza 1999

Almost as good as previous releases (save for the excellent 98, which I decidedly prefer right now). I was surprised not to see this at the Remírez table, but it appeared at dinner. Surprisingly approachable for a 99, especially considering that previous R. de Ganuza releases have wanted lots of bottle+air. This was nicely open for a meal, showing less wildness. 90-91

Salon 1995

Picture this: Gastro enter the Negresco on Saturday night and Greg ‘Gregoctopus’ (named after his ability to hold three different glasses during the tastings) hands him a Spiegelau Authentis Bordeaux glass with a decent pour of white wine. After casually nosing it the conclusion is “Darned good but brutally young champagne” (not a bad guess, I unashamedly congratulated myself). Turned out to be Salon 1995. There was not enough room to fall on my knees but you can imagine the respect (what respect, idolatry!) with which I finished that glass. Of course, it needs something like 8 years to show what it can become, but for 20 minutes I felt taller than everybody else in the room, as my feet were some 12’ above the ground… I won’t even play the numbers game with this wine…

Trasnocho 2001

One to buy, were it not for the 50€ tag. This is the new jewel in the Remírez de Ganuza portfolio. “Outrageously deep opaque purple. Sweet jammy fruit nose, fruit forward unlike most other 2001 Riojas tonight [except perhaps for Contino’s El Olivo]. Also warmer than most, with a balsamic note vs the minerality of the Cirsion. Robust and raw-looking but immnensely pleasurable already. Amazing length.” 93++

With my blind businessman instinct I treasured a second glass of this to take upstairs to dinner…where it was planned to be served anyway!

Enrique Mendoza Reserva Santa Rosa 1999

This was so good that by the time I’m writing this I’ve already bought and polished off a bottle...for under 18€…
In fact I wrote no TN but “BUY” (and I’m good at following my own advice). Experience says (after the equally excellent 96 and 98) that this wine gets otherworldly by Xmas, but try to keep your hands off it now if you can!
TN from my bottle in Galicia: “Raw-ish by all standards but soooo approachable already; this has all the votes to become a worthy successor to the otherworldly 98: excellent ripe berry nose with warm balsamic notes, gorgeous French oak (just a smoky note), heavy Cabernet percentage shows but touched by warmer, fleshy company. Amazing length.” 93

Terra d’Hom 2000

Another blurry memory from a smoky sobaquillo sessions (Friday). It’s true you can’t serve two gods: one can be a master of wine, but merely a slave to tobacco!! I could have killed them (yes, even Raul and Packet)…
Good fruit and palate, little detail that I can remember, possibly because it was unremarkable? Rating says 87-88 which is sort of mean on my part, but I’m not tempted to shell out the greens to retaste…

Toro Albalá Fino “Eléctrico” del Lagar

If this is truly the 10 year old version it’s a most remarkable feat. This retains a lot of fruit (apple to be precise) as well as the inland character of Montilla finos (less pungent, less salty, more gastronomic perhaps for the non initiated, like a good white…only it’s high in (natural) alcohol (around 15% perhaps) and unusually long. 89

Torre Muga 2000

Doomed by its style to perform just above correctness (just like the Barón de Chirel this is a style that needs time to show its stuff) this was pleasantly forward for my expectations. “More difficult right now than most 2001s, though confidently hitting 90/90+. This clearly needs time. Good Rioja profile in a no-nonsense attitude. Palate is much better integrated in the Rioja style, but the nose must yet develop.”

Vaillant Domaine Les Grandes Vignes SGN 1997

Brutally good Loire, with notes of botrytis all over the place and juicy acidity to keep it for…well, for as long as you can keep your hands off it! As I said before I remain “bitterly resented” against whoever introduces me into yet another geographic area that I had remained immune to/blissfully ignorant about. Now you’ve wrecked my determination, Gregoctopus! (Thanks!) 91++

Vicente Gandía 1ª Generación 2001

This was poured blind during Friday dinner. Once the initial smokiness whisked off there were pleasant notes of telltale Garnacha. Then the wine took the wrong turn and got lost for the rest of the evening. Once disclosed it happens to be a blend that includes garnacha, as well as the indigenous Bobal (this is from Valencia). First 88, then 82.

Viñas del Vero Clarión 2002

I had not tried this Somontano white for at least five or six vintages. It’s a “secret blend” that I usually find pleasant but somewhat devoid of real character or distinction. This case was no exception, but it proved very pleasant and very apt for the table.

Viñas del Vero Secastilla 2002

This Garnacha from the Somontano has been IMHO the most authentic and exciting new project in the last five years. The inaugural vintage was 2001 and it came out a little too tight and less fragrant than other examples from the area (the area here being the whole of Aragón, not Somontano, where it remains the only example). Promising nonetheless.
The 2002 vintage, however, was disappointing. Too warm, medicinally, with good sweetish fruit but lacking structure, odd. 87

Zind-Humbrecht Gewürztraminer Herrenweg de Turkheim 2000

Another of our contributions to the Negresco sobaquillo. A bold and muscular Gewürz with excellent body, ripeness and intoxicating fragrance. Exactly what we needed to fight the dangerously approaching smoke cloud and the fatigued palates. Not unforgettable the way a Goldert, Hengst or Windsbuhl would have been, but certainly a textbook example of the variety in a good vintage. 90+

Of course, thanks awfully to all the Verema gang for putting the whole thing together, to all the bodegas attending and the winemakers who went out of their way to pour their wines for us (some even delayed their arrival at Prowein to be with us).

BTW I must also thank the management at the "Negresco" (a cozy pub in Valencia with over too-many-hundred-whisky references) for allowing us to invade them. The "sobaquillo" party on Saturday night was so much fun. Imagine just so many impossibly good bottles being poured, Gaspar Linares slicing a whole piece of ham like few professionals, and the rest of his gang chain-producing pa amb tomaquet … The only sad aspect of the night was Choche’s singing inside the taxi that drove us back to the hotel ;^)
Yep, the shower that Saturday night at the hotel was one of the most restoring experiences I’ve had, too, at about 6:15 am…

PD: How funny, as I write this I realize that a grown-up can easily polish off a bottle of Drappier Grande Sendrée 1996 (disgorged April 2003) in the course of three typing hours. From a Spiegelau Authentis Champagne Stem (not the flute), and Sinatra with me all the time:
Superb flowery and ripe apple nose from the very soft ‘pop’ with a slightly sweetish brioche note. A certain residual sugar abuse detracts from the global impression. Excellent moderate bubble, especially given the ‘one drinker only’ rhythm. Excellent mouthfeel (volume and weight) and structure, with fine persistence. As the bottle progresses its way down, the (indeed very ripe) nose evolves from gorgeous fruit that could be more complex and less upfront to a pleasantly balanced plateau where everything is in place…except for that excess of RS that clearly recalls Cattier’s Clos du Moulin…at half the price (36€ +1€ p&p from Lavinia, laid down for about 45 days)! 92.