What we’re drinking this weekend: lots from Spain!
This weekend we’ll be hosting a tasting with some friends, and we’ve decided to open up a slew of Spanish wines. It’s designed as sort of a Spain 101 wine tasting, though it’s by no means comprehensive. But we are covering several major varietals, and a good number of major wine-producing regions. We’re also covering many price-points, ranging from under $10 bargains to more special occasion wines.
Spain is a hot wine region right now, and it’s also a point of contention between various factions of the wine press, which makes it even more interesting. You have the Wine Advocate/Robert Parker on one side, giving 90+ scores to plenty of $10 wines, and the Wine Spectator on the other side, giving under 80 point scores to the same wines. It seems as much a head to head battle over who’s the taste-maker in the wine world as anything else, especially considering Parker and colleague Jay Miller published their most recent set of reviews well before the Spectator, and we can only assume that the Spectator was aware of the stratospheric ratings the wines had been assigned by their rival by the time they covered the wines.
Nevertheless, consumers are winning out, by and large, because the renaissance of wine-making in Spain has lent us a situation where there is just a ton of product coming into the U.S., and at prices that are affordable enough for a regular person to drink on an everyday basis. All in all, this amounts to is an ideal situation for the casual wine-drinker.
Why? Because we can taste a lot, and not rely on either the Spectator or the Advocate to tell us what to drink. We can grab that bottle that cost $10 or $15, got a 79 from the Spectator and a 91 from Parker, and make up our own minds about whether it’s a wine for us or not. And that, more so than conquering the wine of a nation, is what we’ve designed this Spain tasting to really do: to help all of us discover what we like, and to be able to explore and define our own palates.
We’re going to list the wines here now, pre-tasting, along with the available Spectator and Advocate scores and notes. We’ll add our own notes on Sunday, after the tasting, and see how they compare. Full disclosure: we’ve tasted these wines before, but in a business ‘wine-buying’ mode, not in a social setting. Hence, we are partial to the wines — we stock them, after all (we proudly state, however, that we bought these wines prior to any scores being published).
Even so, we’re curious to see how they’ll taste now that we’re evaluating them as wine drinkers, not wine buyers, and the notes we add on Sunday will be written from a consumer’s standpoint, not a buyer’s or salesperson’s…
Without further ado, the wines:
2005 Rafael Palacios Louro do Bolo, 100% Godello, Valdeorras, Galicia $15.99
Wine Advocate notes (89pts): 2005 is the first vintage of Louro do Bolo, a wine produced from 40- to 50-year-old Godello vines by winemaker Rafael Palacios, brother of the renowned Alvaro Palacios. This light gold-colored tank fermented and aged wine offers notes of mineral, melon, and citrus in its attractive aromatics. This is followed by a smoothly textured wine with excellent depth, intensity, and balance leading to a long, pure finish.
Wine Spectator notes (84pts): This round white offers almond, anise and apple flavors. Straightforward and soft, with just enough acidity for grip. Drink now.
2006 Burgans 100% Albranio, Rias Biaxas, Galicia, $11.99
Wine Advocate notes (89pts): The 2006 Burgans Albarino, a custom cuvee chosen by importer Eric Solomon, is a candidate for Best Buy in the Albarino category. Medium gold-colored, the wine has excellent honey, mineral, orange marmalade and peach aromas and flavors in a just off-dry format. Drink it over the next 12-18 months with grilled salmon, tuna, and roast chicken.
2003 Rioja Vega Crianza, Proprietary Red Blend, Rioja, $13.99
Wine Advocate notes (89pts): The 2003 Crianza is medium ruby-colored with an expressive nose of cedar, cinnamon, red currants, and black raspberry. This is followed by a supple-textured, ripe, medium-bodied wine with no hard edges (atypical for a 2003 Rioja). Drink this nicely balanced, fruit-driven Rioja over the next 6 years.
Wine Spectator notes (78pts): Firm and a bit sharp, this red delivers cherry and smoke flavors with gamy and earthy notes. Tempranillo, Mazuelo and Graciano.
2003 Pasaijes IX, Tempranillo/Garnacha blend, Rioja, $29.99
Wine Advocate notes on 2004 vintage (91pts): The 2004 Paisajes IX is composed of 50% Tempranillo and 50% Garnacha from 40- to 60-year-old vines planted in the village of Nalda. The wine was aged for 14 months in French oak. Inky in appearance, the wine offers up an unusual hint of mint as well as spice box, tobacco, black cherry and blackberry. The wine is supple on the palate with spicy black fruit flavors and excellent length. It should drink well now and over the next 8-10 years. Vila Viniteca is a joint venture between Miquel Angel de Gregorio of Finca Allende and Quim Vila, owner of Vila Viniteca, a fine wine shop in Barcelona. The objective, according to importer Eric Solomon, is to select special vineyard sites with old vines planted with unique/indigenous varietals. The wines are discussed in the order in which they were presented.
2005 Espelt “Saulo” Garnacha/Carinera blend, Costa Brava, $9.99
Wine Advocate/Parker notes (87pts): Espelt Viticultors, an organically farmed estate, is located on the mountainous winding road leading to the world famous Catalunyan restaurant El Bulli. The red wine, the 2005 Saulo, is 50% Garnacha and 50% Carinena aged in barrel for 3-4 months. Dark ruby-colored, it offers smoky cherry aromas and flavors. Supple on the palate, with tasty flavors and no hard edges, this is an easy-drinking wine to accompany tapas and bistro cuisine.
2004 Cellar l’Encastell “Marge”, Garnacha, Syrah, Merlot, Cab blend), $24.99
Wine Advocate notes for similarly constructed 2005 vintage (90pts): The 2005 Marge (named not after a female but rather the local name for the stone walls in the hillside vineyards of Priorat) is a blend of 60% Garnacha, 14% Syrah, 13% Merlot, and 13% Cabernet Sauvignon aged for 8 months in French and American oak. It reveals a lovely perfume of pepper, spice box, black cherry, and black currants. This is followed by a plush, ripe, full-flavored wine with nicely integrated oak, tannin, and acidity. Drink this tasty wine now and over the next 6-8 years.
2004 Tomas Cusine “El Vilosell” Tempranillo, Cab, Merlot, Garnacha and Syrah blend, Costers del Segre, Priorat, $13.99
Wine Advocate notes for similar 2005 vintage (which will be coming in soon; 91pts): The 2005 El Vilosell is composed of 50% Tempranillo, 26% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 9% Garnacha, and 5% Syrah aged for 9 months in new French oak. Purple-colored, it reveals a fragrant array of scents including pepper, spice box, smoke, blackberry, black currant, and blueberry pie. Plush in texture, the wine is full-bodied, with layers of spicy fruit, intense flavors, and well-concealed tannins. Drink this superb value now and over the next 6-8 years.
2004 Anima Negra “AN/2” Callet, Mantonegro, Syrah blend, Balearas Islands (Majorca), $21.99
Wine Advocate notes (91pts): The 2004 AN/2 is a blend of 65% Callet, 25% Mantonegro, and 10% Syrah. Subsequently, 85% of the wine was aged in French oak (70% new) and 15% in tank for a total of 10 months. Dark ruby-colored, with expressive toasty, smoky, kirsch and raspberry aromas and flavors, on the palate this medium to full-bodied wine is rich yet elegant, nicely layered, and has a long, pure finish. Drink this unique wine over the next 4-6 years.
Wine Spectator notes on 2003 vintage (79pts): Cherry candy, cedar and tobacco flavors jostle in this assertive red. It’s light-bodied, but the tannins are aggressive.
2003 Ercavio “La Meseta” Shiraz/Tempranillo blend, La Mancha, $19.99
No published tasting notes that we could find.
2004 Bodegas Juan Gil, “Juan Gil”, 100% Monastrell, Jumilla, $14.99
Wine Advocate/Parker notes (90pts): A serious effort, the 2004 Juan Gil is fashioned from 45-year-old Mourvedre vines and is aged for 12 months in American and French oak. This rich, full-bodied, inky/purple-tinged cuvee exhibits aromas of scorched earth, blueberries, licorice, and pepper, a savory, layered texture, and remarkable opulence for a Mourvedre. Drink it over the next 3-4 years (2006 – 2010)
Wine Spectator notes (84pts): Oak dominates this thick red, with coffee and chocolate flavors and chewy tannins. Plum and raisin flavors are subdued, but they linger on the finish. Mourvèdre. Drink now through 2010
2004 Vinas de la Vega Quinta Sardonia, Red blend, Castilla Leon, $60
Wine Advocate notes (96pts): This new project is co-owned by Peter Sisseck of Pingus fame and the vineyards are cultivated using biodynamic principles. The 2004 Quinta Sardonia is a blend of 36% Tinto Fino, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 5% Syrah, 5% Cabernet Franc, 3% Malbec,and 1% Petit Verdot. It is purple-colored with a sexy, kinky nose of spice box, smoke, creme de cassis, blueberry pie, rhubarb, and blackberry liqueur. Already complex on the palate, the wine is ripe and layered with gobs of spicy black fruits, beautifully integrated oak, tannin, and acidity, and a 45-second finish. It can be enjoyed now but should evolve for 4-6 years and drink well through 2027. Peter Sisseck hereby has demonstrated that he does not need old vines to achieve his magic.
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get your wine on
2008 “Bebame” Red, El Dorado County, California
Cabernet Franc (65%) and Gamay (35%) from - gasp - California! And only 13% ABV, pretty modest by California standards. If I tasted this blind I would probably have said it’s from the Loire Valley. It has pretty much nothing in common with the full bodied iterations of Cab Franc coming out of Napa. Juicy, light, delicious quaffing wine.$18 a bottle
2006 Telegramme Chateauneuf-du-Pape Rouge
Really balanced and smooth, this is a bargain of a Chateauneuf. Yeah, the 07s are lauded but what would I prefer to drink? This! It’s the second label of Vieux Telegraphe, from the same property but from younger vines. And it’s a deal at $33 a bottle.2006 or bust!
NV Barcino Cava: LA Times Wine of the Week!
Delicious and just in time for New Year’s Eve…this is the LA Times Wine of the Week, and we have plenty in stock. Order online, pick-up in-store!$14 a bottle!
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freshly pressed
The Business of Saying No:
No, I am not a natural wine merchant.
And no, I am also not not a natural wine merchant.
So what exactly is my store, Domaine LA? This is a tricky question that I try to answer here.
________
A couple of months back, I participated in the first annual Los Angeles Natural Wine Week, spearheaded by Lou Amdur of Lou Wine Bar. At that time, I took some heat from a few folks around the Internet who felt I might have been merely capitalizing on a trend and didn’t see me as a true natural wine merchant.
The thing is, I’ve never claimed to be a natural wine merchant. When I started my business online a few years ago, I stated plainly that I wanted to sell wines I loved. I was an enthusiast with a fairly receptive, wide-ranging palate, and I considered learning about wine a journey I would be going on alongside my customers. While I’ve since expanded my business to include a brick and mortar space, my self-conception and mission statement haven’t really changed. But my palate has.
To be absolutely blunt about it, I used to love wines that I simply can’t stomach anymore. There are blog posts archived on my website that in retrospect make me cringe, paragraphs singing the praises of some of the most blatantly manipulated wines in the world. I once criticized a wine bar for not having any Southern Hemisphere selections; it’s now my favorite spot in Los Angeles. And today I carry barely a dozen Southern Hemisphere SKUs myself.
By and large, my palate-shift is reflected in what I bring into the store. Chris Ringland and Mollydooker have been replaced by Eric Texier and Thierry Puzelat; the California fruit- and alcohol-bombs, for the most part, have given way to wines from La Clarine Farm, Donkey and Goat and LIOCO.
As a result of my largely obscure inventory, almost every day I’m faced with customers asking for items that I don’t stock. On a regular basis, I hear:
“Do you have Rombauer Chardonnay?”
No, I answer.
“Do you have Caymus?”
Afraid not, I reply.
“What about Blackstone Merlot?”
So sorry, but no.
“Where’s the Veuve Clicquot? This is a gift. I need the recipient to know it’s nice!”
Sigh.
Saying no to people sets up a potentially risky relationship that may start and end with that one exchange—many customers want what they want and aren’t open to alternative suggestions. In other cases, however, that simple “no” can be the beginning of something beautiful, a dialogue that winds up with a customer who came in looking for the Prisoner instead going home with something like Morgan Twain-Peterson’s Bedrock Heirloom Red, a wine which, while perhaps not 100% natural, is a more honest “made in the vineyard” (yes, I know this is also a cliché) version of what the Prisoner purports to be.
Of course, sometimes that customer really just wants the Prisoner. Which leads me to my major confession here: despite more than a bit of ambivalence, I continue to sell the Prisoner, along with other wines that are by no means natural, wines that are quite frankly manufactured. The Prisoner sits on the shelf right next to the Bedrock Heirloom Red, and for the time being, it will stay there. At least twice a week people come in asking specifically for this wine, and, for several reasons, it’s a request I’m not—yet—willing to deny.
Even though I no longer drink the Prisoner, there was a time–not too long ago–when I did so happily. When I first started getting interested in wine, it was a bottle that captured my imagination and helped launch me on the journey I remain committed to today. So maybe I keep the Prisoner around out of a sense of nostalgia. Or maybe I keep it around to remind me how far I’ve come. Maybe I keep it around hoping that for those who ask for it, it will simply be their starting place just as it was mine.
Or, more cynically, maybe I keep it around because people buy it. Maybe it’s a crutch to lean on when I’m too tired to hand-sell the less familiar items on my shelves. Seeing something recognizable is comforting to consumers, and that comfort somehow lends me credibility; credibility is a precedent to trust. Trust is what enables me to recommend something different to a customer who normally drinks the Prisoner.
In this sense, the Prisoner is of great value to me, not just as an easy sell, but even more so as a gateway to all the other wines I have available. I don’t know that I’d be able to move as much of the Bedrock, an unknown wine with a tiny case production, without the Prisoner right next to it.
______
Saying no is extremely hard. Right now, I’m willing to do so 90% of the time, maybe even 95%. Call me a coward or a fake if you want. But I know where I started out, and it’s been a logical evolution. And while I’m headed in a particular direction, guided by my palate, it’s safe to assume I won’t ever be a 100% “natural wine merchant.”
I like to think there’s room for somebody like me—somebody with confidence in her tastes, who also takes into account modes of production in buying decisions; someone who has a particular point of view, yet retains an inclusive attitude. I am strong in my opinions, and enthusiastic in my passions. I never judge my customers, and hope that they’ll be as open-minded and respectful of my offerings as I am of their preferences.
So far, it seems to be working out. In recent months, I’ve brought in only one case of the Prisoner (less than a thousandth of a percent of its total production) for every three cases of the Bedrock (1.3% of its total production).
So, what am I?
I’m not a natural wine merchant. And I’m not not a natural wine merchant.
I’m a work in progress. And I’m okay with that.
The Business of Saying No
Los Angeles Natural Wine Week: Taste California Terroir on 5/15/2010 at Heath Ceramics
Meet the Reps: Amy Atwood
wine jargon
Frizzante
From Wikipedia: Frizzante is an Italian wine term term for semi-sparkling wine (as opposed to Spumante, which is generally used for fully sparkling wines). Frizzante wines generally owe their bubbles to a partial secondary fermentation in tank. You might notice a light fizz or tingly sensation on the tongue with a Frizzante wine, compared to the more carbonated sensation that more fully sparkling wines yield.
Scorekage
Okay, so we made up this word yesterday after a great restaurant experience. We brought a bottle of wine with us, expecting to pay a corkage fee. But the restaurant either forgot to charge us the $15, or decided to be nice to us. We scored! Hence, “scorekage” has entered our lexicon. This can also refer to BYO friendly restaurants that don’t charge for corkage under any circumstances.
grapewise
DomaineLA Store Contact Info
If you’re looking for our brick and mortar shop, here’s where it can be found:
(323) 932-0280
Hours are 11AM to 8PM, Monday through Saturday and noon to 5PM on Sundays.
Read more…Fabulous & Frugal!
Our friends launched a new site and domaine547 is a featured wine columnist in their premiere edition! Go check out Fabulous & Frugal for some fantastic lifestyle tips for living the good life during what, for most of us, is an economically challenging time. There’s much more than wine there, and we’re thrilled to be a small part of the start of what will surely be a successful venture. Congrats to Brandi & Steph for their achievement!
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domaine547 In the Blogosphere! Imbibe Magazine Unfiltered
August 3rd, 2007 at 3:05 pm
Can’t wait for the results. It will be interesting to see how your palates find these wines. I’ll be tuned in!
August 3rd, 2007 at 6:21 pm
Sounds like it will be an excellent tasting. I am most interested in how you find the Quinta Sardonia. I have a bottle in my cellar but have not yet tasted it.
August 4th, 2007 at 11:28 am
Great to see such fun wines being tasted. Spain is hot! and it’s not just the wine…Best way to cool down though is with a nice Sherry. Any hopes of seeing one on the next Spanish wine list?
August 4th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
Debs, think we’ll also try to compile the responses of the whole group and see what the favorites were.
Richard, we tasted the QS once and look forward to tasting again tonight, after a fair amount of decanting.
Ryan…we need help with Sherry. Want to do a Sherry 101 article for the site? Also, do you have any idea as to how many of the wines we’re tasting are export only, and how many might be sold in Spain as well as abroad? We’re very curious about that aspect of the wine market.
August 6th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
just wondering, how come you guys didn’t go with any montecillo wines?
August 6th, 2007 at 6:30 pm
Gene, we had a couple of Rioja wines already representing the region, at 2 different pricepoints, and we didn’t need a third. Additionally, we pulled these from our stock and don’t currently carry any Montecillo. Update notes are coming soon, but the most popular wine was one of the two Rioja blends we poured…
Let us know which Montecillo you like and why. Maybe you could submit a video tasting note for YouTaste? Thanks!
August 9th, 2007 at 9:34 am
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