OK Spanish wine fans listen up!!

Here is the line-up for tomorrows Wines of Spain tasting downtown at DeVines winestore.

Reception - 2002 O. Fournier Blason de San Juan Crianza (Ribera del Duero) - $20.99

1) 2004 Borsao Tres Picos Garnacha (Campo de Borja) - $29.99

2) 2005 Descendientes de Jose Palacios 'Petalos' (Bierzo) - $31.99

3) 2003 Miguel Torres Mas La Plana Cabernet Sauvignon (Penedes) - $48.99

4) 1998 Marques de Murrieta Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial (Rioja) - $59.99

5) 2002 Cellers Ripoll Sans 'Closa Batllet' (Priorat) - $69.99

6) 2002 Pintia (Toro) - $76.99

7) a surprise (will be the `89 Murrieta Gran Reserva).

I have not forgotten to post TNs. Rodeo is in town plus have a funeral coming up after the weekend so trying to find places for out-of-towners to stay. Stay tuned forumites, oh yeah, the wines were very very good.

Bob,

Looking forward to the tasting notes. I am especially interested in the Mas La Plana tasting as I am buiding a vertical (98, 99, 2001 so far) of this great Cab wine.

`03 Mas de Plana. Ruby red hints, best finish of first four wines. Velvety, smooth even with the tannins. Blackcurrant, plum, cranberry sauce.... its all there in a good balance. Strange saltiness almost on the finish but could have been the food? I would not keep this too long, Have no real experience with this one Tom but many liked it.

`03 Mas de Plana. Ruby red hints, best finish of first four wines. Velvety, smooth even with the tannins. Blackcurrant, plum, cranberry sauce.... its all there in a good balance. Strange saltiness almost on the finish but could have been the food? I would not keep this too long, Have no real experience with this one Tom but many liked it.

Thanks Bob,

The other Mas la Planas I have are big tannic reds that are built to last. The 2003 must have been heat affected resulting in lower tannins. Was it new world like in its fruit?

1) `02 O Fournier Blason de San Juan Crianza (R del Duero).

Reception wine, well received. Nose comments included "smoke, coffee farts". Lightish color, soft tannins, cherry, blackberry. Good everyday wine, $20.

2) `98 Marques de Murrieta Ygay GR Especial.

Open and pour, no decant. Found this quite tannic but food did help. Caramel on nose, berries, prunes will need more time. $60.

3) `04 Borsao Tres Picos Garnacha, Campo de Borja.

Was decanted, some sediment. Violet on rim, pepper on finish. Needs 3 yrs, top notch stuff, $30.

4) `03 M Torres Mas La Plana Cab Sauv.

$49, best finish of first four wines. Velvety, smooth, I think drinks now.

5) `02 Cellers Ripoli Sans Closa Batllet, Priorat.

Still need to spend time with these wines? Nose was kirsch, spice, strawberry. Sandalwood, expresso, forest floor. Very much oak-dominated finish, $70 wow.

6) `02 Pintia, Toro.

Darkest color here, oak monster, almost opaque. Has greatest potential here, nice evolvement in the glass but fruit struggles to come thro`. Leather, cedar box, cost is $77.

7) Surprise wine was ~89 Ygay Murrieta.

I myself not sure would keep longer? Good acidity. Raspberry, smooth, cherry. Excellent length, very very nice wine!

Hope I'm not hijacking your thread Bob, but I was reminded by the title of a session at the recent AWS convention on Monastrell wines from the Murcia region. This is in southeastern Spain, an ancient land roamed by Phoenicians, Romans and Arabs, most of it extremely dry. Somehow the Monastrell grape (a.k.a. Mourvedre) does very well here, especially in the hands of a new generation of wine makers who often blend it with combinations of Syrah, Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

The offering we tasted from about a half dozen wineries were a uniform hit. They were dry and characteristically light with a spicy, peppery taste. Monastrell is said to have lots of tannins, but they can't be the same as those in other red wines that usually leave me congested. Best of all, the prices are right, ranging from less than $10 to $16 or so. I'm a white wine guy, but I'll be looking for Monastrell now. Some producers are Casa De La Ermita, Alceno, Finca Omblancas, Casa de las Especias, Valle de Salinas and Bodegas Bleda.

Dan, many thanks. Sure many here interested in all regions of Spain. I am familiar somewhat with this region.

Recent WTN:
I used to drink this often..
years & years & years ago...
Torres was new to us then..
and had (still has) a great range.
It has been a while since I
tasted the Flagship wine

Torres Mas La Plana 1998
Cabernet Sauvignon
Penedés , Spain
Quite dark in colour; spicy oak..
with some vanilla; complex and balanced,
brimming with black berry fruits
Big tannic palate, but with fine
sweet cassis fruit.
Decant this as it still showed well the next day.
Will go on improving..3-5 years.
Points 17.5

My memory tells me this was a different mix all those years ago.. ...has the Cabernet Sauvignon increased over the years? These are now old-vines.


Regards

Barry

http://barrys-wine.blogspot.com/

My memory tells me this was a different mix all those years ago.. ...has the Cabernet Sauvignon increased over the years?

Mas La Plana has been 100% cabernet sauvignon since the early 1970s. Earlier there had been a little cabernet franc, and even earlier monastrell/mourvèdre.

Somehow the Monastrell grape (a.k.a. Mourvedre) does very well here.

Small wonder. It does well there for the same reason pinot noir does well in Burgundy and syrah does well in Côte-Rôtie: it originates from right there in southeastern Spain.

Thanks Victor...the thought that something else was in the mix was maybe down to the younger vines.


Barry

Barry great notes. Visit your blog all the time!

Dan Smothergill wrote:

Somehow the Monastrell grape (a.k.a. Mourvedre) does very well here.

Victor de las Serna wrote:

Small wonder. It does well there for the same reason pinot noir does well in Burgundy and syrah does well in Côte-Rôtie: it originates from right there in southeastern Spain.

Ain't evolution wonderful? From the pictures I saw the only thing I would have thought would grow there would be sand.

3) `04 Borsao Tres Picos Garnacha, Campo de Borja.

Was decanted, some sediment. Violet on rim, pepper on finish. Needs 3 yrs, top notch stuff, $30.

I usually find the Tres Picos enjoyable. One thing that caught my eye here was the price, about twice what it would be here. Is it taxes?

Double the price? Thats the norm up here and no discount bins. The greed of the agent (then the mark up at the store) is the main reason we pay over the top. Don`t get me started, wink.

Ain't evolution wonderful?

What's evolution got to do with it?

My memory tells me this was a different mix all those years ago.. ...has the Cabernet Sauvignon increased over the years? These are now old-vines.

Quite right, Barry. Vintages between 1970 and 1978 contained Tempranillo and cab franc. They used to mature in American oak but have now switched entirely to French.

According to the Spaniards, the Monastrell grape originated in Catalonia, where it was cultivated in the monasteries (hence it’s name- Monastrell).

Salute

Dan Smothergill wrote:

Ain't evolution wonderful?

Victor de la Serna wrote:

What's evolution got to do with it?

The blind selection of life by an ecological niche.

Victorwine wrote:

According to the Spaniards, the Monastrell grape originated in Catalonia, where it was cultivated in the monasteries (hence it’s name- Monastrell).

Thanks Victor

According to the Spaniards, the Monastrell grape originated in Catalonia.

Not according to this Spaniard. Monastrell has been known since the 15th century, but the first detailed ampelographic report, by Valverde, was written in 1765, and in it Valverde describes it as having originated in Valencia, more specifically in the area surrounding the port of Sagunto, known as Morvedre in the Valencian language - hence the name, mourvèdre, it received when it was planted in France.

According to the Wine Grape Glossary:

MONASTRELL:
Has synonym name (Morrastel). Recent DNA evidence 3/98 suggests that the library varieties from UC Davis, California and Montpellier, France used in the tests are identical to Moristel and have no relationship to Mourvèdre. The variety thrives in warm, arid climates. With careful vinification and much racking before bottling the wines are capable of ageing well.

MOURVÈDRE:
Robust Mediterranean hot climate grape variety widely grown in the southern Rhone region of France and mainly used to introduce color and body to the red wine blends. Normally ripens in mid-October, a week or so after Carignan. Select limited plantings occur in California where the variety is often called the Mataro, a relationship recently confirmed 3/98 by DNA analysis at UC Davis, and are used to produce a wine that sometimes develops the "green tea-like" herbal character that Rhone region French growers refer to as "animalé". Common false aliases, probably due to early miss-identification, in Australia are Mataro, Morrastel, and Graciano. The cultivar known as Monastrell that is grown in Spain and previously thought to be identical is not related.

Salute

The DNA findings keep knocking over conventional truths. Great digging Victor.

According to the Wine Grape Glossary

I have been growing monastrell/mourvèdre for years and I use these grapes to make a relatively well-known wine called Finca Sandoval. I have known and corresponded for years with the top two grape DNA scientists in the world, Dr. Carole Meredith of California and Dr. José Vouillamoz of Switzerland. One of our talking points has always been monastrell/mourvèdre.

DNA fingerprinting has, since almost a decade now. established that monastrell and mourvèdre are one and the same grape variety - the research having been mostly conducted by the El Encín lab near Madrid, and also at the universities of Murcia, Spain and Montpelllier, France.

Anthony Hawkins' grape glossary is a useful but non-professional tool, with information coming from many sources at different times, and not all of it correct. You quote a couple of good examples mixing correct and outdated (and therefore incorrect) information.

I'm sorry, but I don't think you should pursue this line of discussion on one subject that I know in depth and about which you basically don't know anything - no disrespect intended.

[James Roscoe]

According to the Wine Grape Glossary

I'm sorry, but I don't think you should pursue this line of discussion on one subject that I know in depth and about which you basically don't know anything - no disrespect intended.

With the exception of a few common sense exceptions, it's not a good idea to tell people what they should or shouldn't do. You just come off as a blow-hard, which probably isn't your intent. No disrespect intended.