Good news for English speakers: new Gerry Dawes blog
Re: You can see a feed for the last posts of all Verema blogs
Ver mensaje de MaJesus"Almost unnoticeable bias" ..... ?
Gerry certainly makes his dislikes clear !!
However I remain baffled that Mauro can be derided and Condado de Haza/Pago de Los Capellanes lauded.
I detect similar amounts of fruit/oak in all these wines.
Fine to draw a line between wines with different styles but some of the dividing lines confuse me.
Re: You can see a feed for the last posts of all Verema blogs
Ver mensaje de RayQI know Ray ... I like the enthusiastic comments about the wines one likes much better than the bitter critics about the wines that one does not like, but I'm not bothered by these at all: I just use the comments of people who only like a small subset of the wines I like as a good guide (if the person is good, the case of Gerry) over that small subset, and only over that small subset. For all of the other, and for me extraordinary wines, their opinions are of little help (I'm not saying that they are bad, or bad informed or stupid, I am just saying that they are of little help TO ME) ... but, as I said, for "classical" Spanish wines, Gerry is wonderful.
I do not like condado de Haza much ... I used to like it several year ago, I began disliking it and stopped buying it ... maybe it is nice again ... I should give it a second try, maybe ... there are so many wines!!! ... and yes, I like Mauro :-DDDD
Cheers!
MaJesus
Re: You can see a feed for the last posts of all Verema blogs
Ver mensaje de MaJesusYes I agree. There is no right and wrong here just opinions.
And as you say the opinion of someone who does not like a style of wine I like means very little to me.
I like to read the opinions of those who do not share my likes as it allows me to (try to) broaden my experience.
And sometimes...
Ver mensaje de RayQWe even share bottles drinking together!!! :))))))))))
Cheers,
Jose
Re: You can see a feed for the last posts of all Verema blogs
Ver mensaje de RayQRay, please send me the quote, where Mauro is derided. Like Maria Jose, I used to drink a lot of Condado de Haza, which was my house red for awhile, but I have not drunk for a year or so and the article from which you derived your commentaries, I suppose it was the 30 favored wines, was written in 2007. Has Condado de Haza changed so dramatically in the last couple of years?
Though I am not enamored of Mauro's Vendemia Seleccionada, as is well known by Mariano Garcia, who is one of my best friends in Spain (and not just in wine). As a matter fact, we both prefer Mauro, his entry level wine. Pago de los Capellanes, while a good wine in its style, is no personal favorite of mine either because of its weight and power.
As to Maria Jose's repeated assertions suggesting that I am mired in Rioja classicismo, she is wrong. Just because I have long been a fan of her wines--last night for my birthday I had the Bosconia Gran Reserva 1981--does not mean that I do not like good, well-made, balanced, terroir-driven modern wines. I mean I did write the first article in America on the promise of Priorat (in 1988!) and just published another one in Decanter that highly rates several wines from that region and from Montsant. I just refuse to accept the fact that "good" means jammy overripe fruit, low acid, 14.5-15% alcohol and ghastly new oak flavors. This last is a sore point with me, because a lot of so-called modern wines are not the product of good winemaking, they are the product of new barrel buying by people who think the horrible taste of raspy new oak should somehow be a part of a good glass of wine. This epoch is coming to an end, fortunately, because the worldwide economic crisis is bringing a new "religion" to supplant the "new oak dogma" of the past 20 years. New oak costs too much, so we are now hearing a chorus, which will soon reach a cresciendo, about how we don't need so much new oak in wines because it ruins the flavor. As usual, another money-driven gospel by the wine industry.
Gerry, this is the section...
Ver mensaje de GerryDawes"And, now for the red wines: Shall I list the reds that the mere mention of which sends new-wave Spanish wine aficionados (those with shares in Berkshire Hathaway) into a feeding frenzy: L'Ermita, Clos Erasmus, Dominio de Pingus, Numanthia, Mustiguillo, Allende, Roda Cirsion, Torre Muga, Mauro Vendimia Seleccionada, Dominio de Valdepusa's Syrah, Alto P.S.?
My readers can pursue those Valhalla reds in a couple of well-known newsletters and consumer publications. There are also some delicious, well-made wines up there in the stratosphere, wines like Vega Sicilia, Contino's El Olivo, CUNE's Real de Asúa, Pérez Pascuas Gran Selección, Pesquera's Janus and Condado de Haza's Alenza, Dominio de Valdepusa's Petit Verdot, Cims de Porrera, Benjamín Romeo's Contador, Enrique Mendoza Santa Rosa, Julián Chivite Pagos de Arínzano, Pago de los Capellanes and the single vineyard Corullón Bierzo wines from Descendientes de J. Palacios, to name some of the best."
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I see no point in having an argument over peoples tastes, it's subjective.
I think 'feeding frenzy' and 'valhalla wines' are not exactly flattering comments but maybe 'derided' is a step too far.
My point is not to question your likes and dislikes (it's none of my business!) but the point I was trying to make is where one draws the line between different wines. I don't see a huge difference between Mauro's range and Pago de Los Capellanes to name one instance. Like you I also prefer the Mauro and have been buying it for over 15 years.
However you don't state that you like the Mauro in the article. If you had I would not have picked you up on this point. And like you I also like P de los C.(I think the Joven and Reservas are excellent) However I don't like El Nogal and I'm quite sure you don't either ;-)
I apprecate this wine didn't exist when you wrote the article.
Also I read many articles (not just this article) about oak soup wines yet very few about the awful thin dried out old style wines left to die slowly in huge old oak vats. They are no more representative of well made traditional wines than the oak monsters are of modern well made wines. I like neither excess but I read a lot of criticism of new oak and little of the excesses(faults) of the older style.
I hope that you are right in predicting a move away from 100% new oak. I also hope this leads to an easing of price
but I won't hold my breath.
Please re-read what I wrote. I was not having a 'go' at you. I like your articles and merely pointed out that I felt I knew where you were coming from. I just didn't see a great deal of difference between some of you likes and dis-likes.
When I joined this forum one of my hobby horses was my dislike of the 'super cuvee' skimming off the best wine from the 'basic' one shoving it in expensive oak barrels and then charging a fortune for it and its heavy bottle.
Like you I like good winemaking and while I prefer to drink the more modern style wines I no more want splinters in my tongue than I want dead fruitless over (old)oaked wines in my mouth.
best wishes
Ray
Re: Gerry, this is the section...
Ver mensaje de RayQThe comment was repeated instead of edited, sorry!
MaJesus