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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