Tuesday Dinner: Albariño & Pomerol.

Dinner was at Pepato this past Tuesday, 3rd November 2009, with my wife, Doc and Mrs. Doc. Though I brought a couple of wines along (a 2008 Itsas Mendi Nº7 Txakoli and 1995 La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 890), I suspected Doc really intended to open his bottles that night since he told me he had "a couple of bottles I want to try out". Sure enough, when we arrived from the office, Doc already had a red open and a white in an ice bucket.

With appetizers of...


Tempura Squash Flowers...


Roasted Bone Marrow...

...and Scrambled Eggs with Truffles (of which I forgot to take a photo), we enjoyed...



2008 Bodegas del Palacio de Fefiñanes Albariño de Fefiñanes - The basic bottling albariño from what I understand to be the oldest producer of albariño. The wine is extremely minerally, with clear notes of oyster shells. Very pure, focused, linear, edgy and nervy, it called to mind the steely Chablis style of Laurent Tribut (but sans the chardonnay flavors, naturally). Acidity is high, but not at all sharp or bothersome. I'd have to say that it could use just a touch or two more fruit as it seems, to me, a bit lacking in this regard.

I am aware that '08 Rías Baixas weather was cooler than usual and that the yield of albariño was significantly higher than '07. These factors could possibly be reasons for the seeming lack of fruit. It's still a good wine though - my wife certainly thought so - that would undoubtedly be great with fresh oysters, diwal (a.k.a., angel wing clams) and other fresh, simply prepared shellfish (as albariños are traditionally paired with). It didn't have enough body, fruit or drive for the appetizers at hand - but that's not the wine's fault.

With 2 orders of Pepato's signature Steak alla Fiorentina "di Lusso" (one rare for my wife and I, and one medium-rare for the spouses Doc)...



...sides of Potato Hay, Potato Wedges, etc....



...we had the Doc's next bottle:



2001 Vieux Château Certan - A Pomerol from a producer I have always liked, though, for some reason, I've not been buying their wines (or much from Pomerol, for that matter) for the past few years. Vieux Château Certan's vineyards are virtually surrounded by those of equally famous châteaux, such as, L'Evangile and La Conseillante (south), Le Pin (northwest, owned by another of the Thienpont family), Certan de May, Hosanna and Pétrus (northward). Even their '94, a so-called off-vintage, I have greatly enjoyed.

This wine displayed kirsch, plum, leather, violets, sweetish wood, very slight toast and a nuance of "tar" underneath. Firm structure, full-bodied, tannins apparent but soft/smooth enough. Good wine, not quite mature, this needs to come together a bit more which I'm quite sure it will with, say, 3-5 more years. That said, I very much enjoyed this wine and would not hesitate to drink it again now and in the near future.

Doc liked it well enough, but didn't seem overly enamored with it. Well, it was readily apparent that I enjoyed it more than he anyway. Thanks. Doc.

Noel, the label there.....Albariño de Fefiñanes, looks very traditional. At first I thought it was a 30 yr old cellared wine!!!

I found this just now.....>

Established in 1904, and still based in an actual palace, this is probably the most beautiful and historic bodega in the whole of Rías Baixas - a DO over 5 sub-regions stretching from the Salnés Valley in Pontevedra province right down to the Portuguese border. Bodegas del Palacio de Fefiñanes was the pioneer of Albariño in the region, and they were the first producer to bottle wine under the DO Rías Baixas. This is a stand-out operation. Built in 1583 in the spectacular main square of the coastal town of Cambados, both palace and winery belong to the urbane Juan Gil - who is actually a marquis (the Marqués de Figueroa) - and his family. The winery buys almost all its grapes from local growers under long-term contracts overseen by Fefiñanes’ oenologist Moncho. The house style here is delicate and floral – which has become unusual in this area, given the many newer, artificial yeast inspired offerings now made in the region; and the straight Palacio de Fefiñanes is quite delightful – with a beautifully nuanced nose, a palate of baked apples, lemon and honey. Invariably drunk very young, it actually ages very well for 2 or 3 years.

"Artificial yeast"? I guess they mean "cultured yeast". There's no "artificial yeast" in winemaking. I feel really embarrassed when people write about wine without a basic knowledge of how it's made and with what. I've spent all my life learning about wine, and I didn't start writing about it until I really had a grasp about the basics - and then some. Some people happily spew out anything. I wonder where you found that wonderful text, Bob...

Think I went to AbleGrape.com and did a search?
I was just trying to add some info, not endorsing the article!!! Thanks for your valued insight as always Victor.
How was the harvest? Your wines have gone off the shelves here.

Victor: if the "artificial yeast" comes from a website originally in Spanish I might chalk it up to a bad translation. I say this after looking at the "English" version of the websites from various Portuguese producers while preparing for my recent vacation in that country. Many of these sites could really benefit from having a native speaker giving them a quick read before putting them online! It is almost as if they have used Google Translate without any editing.

No, it is quite obviously a text that was originally written in English. I have found it on the web sites of two British importers, Corks Out and Moreno Wines, who should have known better.