WTN: 2 different styles of Tempranillo, Remelluri and Pinuaga

At our labor day block party one of my neighbors brought a bottle of the 2001 Remelluri Rioja. It was a very well made wine, but seemed a little anonymous. Very ripe, forward black fruit and a little leather in the nose. The mouthfeel was very round, smooth and polished, and there were some tannins but they were mostly buried underneath the fruit. It was definitely a crowd pleaser at the party. A fine wine without any faults except that it could have been from anywhere.

Last night I tried a bottle that is imported by a local company named Casa Ventura, right here in Bellingham. The 2004 Pinuaga Tempranillo is from Castilla - La Mancha near Toledo. The website states the winery and vineyards are located 720 meters above sea level and the vines are reportedly 30-40 years old. The soil is clay limestone. Yields of 3.5 kg/hl. Fermented in stainless steel and moved by gravity to age in old American and French oak for 9 months.

The color was dark garnet, clear, brilliant. Lots of red fruits in the nose, which Vic, the wine buyer at our Co-op, described as currants and red plums. Also there is a crushed brick earthiness. Mouthfilling, with scratchy rustic tannins. Good acidity and nice length. There is a little heat from the alcohol. No obvious oaky flavors.

The wine is a little young and is drinkable now with food but should be better with a few years in the cellar. I really liked the all red fruit nose and lack of polish and oakiness. I am going to cellar a few of these and try again in 2-3 years. Very good value at $19. 14.5% abv.

Best,
Marc

[Jenise]

Interesting note that makes me ponder previously-reached conclusions about the wines of La Mancha. When I visited there, and indeed the few times I've had a La Mancha wine since, the wines struck me as having jammy, hot-climate flavors: what Barossa is to Australia, or Lodi and Paso to California. But that's a characterization that may not be deserved, I don't believe I've ever seen this discussed. Have you had enough experience with wines from this area to consider this wine typical or an exception?

Not enough experience to say if this wine was atypical or not. The wine was very interesting as it had a bit of sweetness to the nose, but was all red fruit and it didn't seem jammy or over ripe to me.

Hi there Marc,
I am Basi, the Spanish wine importer in Bellingham that brings in PINUAGA and other great wines from Spain. Thank you for your comments on PINUAGA; it really is a great wine. It matures for nine months in new French and American oak barrels, but they use 300 liter barrels instead of the traditional 225 liter (less oak surface per wine means more fruit...). I agree that this wine will be even better with a little time in the cellar, but I have to say that I am really enjoying it now. Don't miss the next wine from this family owned winery: PINUAGA NATURE, comming up soon.

Cheers!

[Jenise]

Basi, I live here in Bellingham, too, and have been hearing great things about your wines.

Hello Jenise,
PINUAGA is a pretty modern wine for La Mancha region. In my opinion the PINUAGA family has achieve something hard to find in this area: they have made a very modern wine (body and structure, black ripe fruit and fruit tannins, alcohol content) keeping the essence of the CENCIBEL (TEMPRANILLO) of this area: wildflowers, red fruit, freshness. The result is a great wine that a friend of mine in the wine business described like this:
“This gorgeous wine is 100% Tempranillo from +35 year old vines grown in Castilla, around the city of Toledo. It is always the talk of every event where it is shown getting everyone exited about its full complex flavors. Its aromas will catch your attention immediately and will keep your fascination growing. It has bold full dark fruit with wonderful floral notes, earth, herbs and licorice. You want these aromas to keep going forever and you are afraid that the flavors won’t live up to them. BUT ITS FLAVORS SHINE LIKE A BEACON IN THE NIGHT. Lively and mouth filling, bold and deeply rich, structured and intriguingly complex, if this is what central Spain can do with Tempranillo then come join the “major leagues” guys and gals, IT TASTES LIKE THE WORLD SERIES TO ME! AMAZING!!”

Cheers!

Hi there again Jenise,
Thank you very much! I hope we can meet in one of my comming tastings soon! I will let you know when and where.

Interesting note that makes me ponder previously-reached conclusions about the wines of La Mancha. When I visited there, and indeed the few times I've had a La Mancha wine since, the wines struck me as having jammy, hot-climate flavors: what Barossa is to Australia, or Lodi and Paso to California. But that's a characterization that may not be deserved, I don't believe I've ever seen this discussed. Have you had enough experience with wines from this area to consider this wine typical or an exception?

Jenise,
The vast majority of wines from La Mancha are just as you've described (and overcropped plonk to boot). But there are wineries doing different things there, as the wine in question and Finca Sandoval (partly owned by Victor de la Serna) illustrate. From what Victor's mentioned, I believe that Finca Sandoval is also at high elevation, which is probably the key to avoiding the excesses endemic to that region.

Mark Lipton

Hi Basi,

Thanks for the reply. I didn't see it until today, as these threads move off the first page so quickly.

Next time you have a tasting, please let me know. I would love to try some more wines with you.

Best,
Marc

Welcome Basi. We have had a very interesting discussion on Tempranillo recently, I will bump up for you. Its titled Open Mike: Tempranillo

[Jenise]

Mark, thanks for the confirmation. I've actually had some of Victor's wines and would not have guessed they were southern wines at all.

Marc, do you not have your settings flagged to notify you any time there's a response to one of your posts? If not, you should; it's a nice way to make sure you never miss something you wouldn't want to ignore.

Basi, yes, please let us know about your tastings. Btw, I was talking to my friend Gary Hoffman on the phone last night (we're doing something together tonight)--he has that little gift/wine shop in Fairhaven--and we asked each other what we were drinking. He said, "I'm drinking this great little red wine imported by Basi...." Everybody knows you!

Hi mark

This is esther pinuaga...the wine producer of the PINUAGA wine that Basi imports. I had the chance to take a look at your comments and would like to thank you for taking the chance to taste our wine. It is always nice to see that people out there taste our wines:-)

It is true that in La Mancha, being the biggest grape growing region in the world, things have changed a lot in the past years. You can now find many interestig wines out there...so keep looking for those wines I am sure that you will be suprised.

Un saludo...from Spain