D.O. Bierzo wines: what it’s moving around?
D.O. Bierzo wines: what it’s moving around?
Ver mensaje de Juan SuchI think it could be a good idea for our English-speaking ";lurkers"; to try to make a kind of forum surveys on the state of some Spanish wine regions nowadays. This can help even the Spanish participants on this forum to summarize on recent developments.
We have now 8 TNs on Bierzo wines: https://www.verema.com/en/tastingnotes/searchresults.asp?buscar=bierzo&submit=Search+wine
And 122 TNs on the Spanish version: https://www.verema.com/comunidad/vinoscatados/resultados.asp?buscar=bierzo&submit=Buscar+vino
The best winery I know in the region is Dominio de Tares, incidentally the winery awarded as ";2003 Winery of the year"; by the Verema registered users. Its mencia and godello wines are very interesting and they are just starting their way (the winery was founded on 2000)
The second one is Descendientes de J. Palacios. I have tried Corullon but until now I have not been very impressed by the wine, specially considering its high price tag. In the 2001 vintage they have produced four new single vineyard (";pago";) wines: San Martin, Las Lamas, Moncerbal y La Faraona that I haven’t tried yet. Tanzer seems that has been impressed by La Faraona, awarding it 93-95 points. Anyway just two barrels have been made and the price is more than $100. Tanzer says of this wine: ";The sweetest of these 2001s but the wine’s powerful spine of acidity gives it compelling juiciness and inner-mouth energy. A note of blood orange accentuates its exhilarating sugar/acid balance. Really spreads out in the mouth and builds on the finish.";
And finally I could mention Bodegas y Viñedos Arturo García. They produced a fine Solar de Sael Roble 2001 with a wonderful quality-price ratio.
What are your comments about the wines have you tried in Bierzo?
Re: D.O. Bierzo wines: what it’s moving around?
Ver mensaje de Juan SuchI think we could add Bodegas Estefanía wines: Tilenus, Pagos de Posada. Another two good examples of mencia’s chances.
I would like to say something about Corullon 2000. Don’t you think the mouth is so impenetrable it’s impossible to say nothing about him?. May be in the next 5-10 years...
Really, Dominio de Tares is nowadays the best Bierzo’s value.
Re: D.O. Bierzo wines: what it’s moving around?
Ver mensaje de Iñaki BlascoJust a few extra Bierzo nice wines....
Castro Ventosa wines: Airola Gewürztraminer, Mayorazgo de Ardai and Valtuille
Pittacum wines: Pittacum
and finally Bodegas y Viñedos Luna Beberide: Luna Beberide Gewürztraminer.....
Re: D.O. Bierzo wines: what it’s moving around?
Ver mensaje de Juan SuchThe most exciting new wine from Bierzo that I have tried is Paixar 2001. In my opinion, it surpasses all the vintages I have tried of Palacios Corullon and ";Bierzo,"; Ardai, and many less expensive offerings. The color in the glass is deep blackish purple with a thin garnet edge. The nose shows strong fruit -- blackberries, cherries -- with more subtle notes of spice, licorice, oak, mint and dark chocolate. In the mouth the wine is smooth and richly layered, with a taste profile similar to the nose. The finish is huge. Overall, this seems far more deep and elegant than most Mencias, which generally strike me as much brighter and less layered in comparison.
I will get an up-to-date survey of Bierzo in a couple of weeks. I am organizing a blind horizontal tasting of 2001 Bierzos. This will include Paixar, all the new single-vinyard projects from Palacios (San Martin, Moncerbal, Las Lamas, La Faraona), Tares, and a few others.
Welcome! and Paixar 2001
Ver mensaje de WaltZalenskiWalt, welcome to the Verema forum. I think you are the first user registered in the English version of this site that post here. Where do you come from?
Regarding Paixar 2001 I haven’t tried yet. I only know that it’s made by the two sons of Mariano García. Your comments increase my interest in tasting it ASAP. How about the integration of fruit and oak?
I hope you will tell us more about that blind tasting of 2001 Bierzos in this forum. Have you got La Faraona? You must have good connections because there are very few bottles of it ;-)
Welcome, Walt
Ver mensaje de WaltZalenskiVery much interesting your blind horizontal tasting of 2001 Bierzos.
I hope your comments here with your impressions about it.
Welcome again.
Re: D.O. Bierzo wines: what it’s moving around?
Ver mensaje de WaltZalenskiHi there Walt!!! Welcome to Verema’s forum! This tasting sounds really attractive... It’s strange but I haven’t found any Paixar TN ...... ;))
Re: Welcome! and Paixar 2001
Ver mensaje de Juan SuchThank you all for the welcome. I am from Washington DC but am a student of Spanish wine. I drink it almost exclusively, have a carefully selected cellar of perhaps 500 bottles and, although I have no economic interests in wine, I am constantly trying to promote Spanish wine in America.
Yes, I have all Palacios single vineyard wines for my blind Bierzo tasting, including one bottle of La Faraona . There were only 45 cases produced and only 3 cases for the entire US market.
Paixar is rare but not that rare. The total production was only 250 cases. The importer (and former winner of the Ruinart prize as the best sommelier in Spain) Aurelio Cabestrero/Grapes of Spain, secured 75 cases for the US market. (I have a case.) Regarding your question: this really is a good wine and there is no problem with too much oak. If you try it, however, you must be sure to decant it and give it a lot of air - at least two hours.
I will be sure to post a report about the Bierzo horizontal.