TN: Bierzo and Castilla y Leon tasting.

Helped out at another of the Thursday night tastings at DeVines downtown. I do so enjoy volunteering for these gigs!
20 participants , no-one present really versed in the region.

1) `07 Dominio Dostares Estay. 100% Prieto Picudo grape, $19, nice easy drinking, medium bodied, good structure, seen some oak, chocolate. Good patio wine, like this.

2) `07 Bodegas Abanico Manium Crianza. 100% Mencia, $25, coconnut, new world from many in the room. 14 months new Am oak, nutty, plum and blueberry when I drained bottle at end of evening. This is typical??

3) `08 Descendientes de Jose Palacios Petalos. Many forumites will know this red, $30, 100% Mencia, much improved on #2. Tobacco on nose, black cherry, plum, eucalyptus, good length, needs time. Good wine, flew off the shelf.

4) `05 Dominio Dostares Leione. $27, 100% P Picado, deep color with violet rim. Cheesy nose, soft tannins, rather ripe for me. Tastes better than it smells!

5) `05 Dominio Dostares Cumal. First time I have come across this red..and last! $39, could have used more decanting I think? Unbalanced, over the top, "international". Pass.

6) `04 Dominio do Tares P3. Big wine at $90 Cdn. 100% Mencia, funky nose, earthy, "cattle" from some. Mushrooms on palate, v gd acidity, big upfront cherry and plum. Guess this has a big track record but big $$$s eh.

Interesting tasting, Bob, with Pétalos turning up trumps again. Over-oaking is common in Spain and it seems as if you got your fair share of those. Pity Raúl Pérez did not figure in the round-up; his entry level cuvées are really delicious but his top ones coast well into 3 figures in € .

Yeah, I thought it was a fair selection. Quite a good discussion on the UK board eh.

No Raúl Pérez cuvée is expensive ex cellars. Only the grey market sends them through the roof.

Victor, Bierzo has only made a very recent appearance on the radar screens of most non-Spanish wine-lovers. How far has it established a track record for graceful ageing?

Bob, nice to see a tasting of Bierzo wines since the Menzia grape is since some time very much in the vogue among the more knowledgeable wine lovers here in Stockholm. The impression I/we often get of these wines is that they show a meatiness and pepperiness that make them having quite a lot in common with Syrah based wines, in particular from the Northen Rhône, but they often have a different mouthfeel. I mostly find them having significantly drier and sandier tannins, sometimes leaving the mouth a bit drier than what can be balanced by their fruit. Certainly we have found some of the omnipresent examples of over-oaked wines here too.
Cheers, Anders

The impression I/we often get of these wines is that they show a meatiness and pepperiness that make them having quite a lot in common with Syrah based wines, in particular from the Northen Rhône, but they often have a different mouthfeel. I mostly find them having significantly drier and sandier tannins, sometimes leaving the mouth a bit drier than what can be balanced by their fruit. Certainly we have found some of the omnipresent examples of over-oaked wines here too.
Cheers, Anders

Hi Anders,

I too get that aromatic similarity with Northern Rhône though the body tends to be more generous. I haven't particularly noted dry, sandy tannins but will look out for them next time. Some people claim that Mencia is related to Cabernet franc and also claim to find taste resemblance with Loire examples; I don't get that at all.

There's no question that quality mencía wines are ageworthy, from what we know from the early, now 30 years old, attempts at oak-aged Bierzo wines. (BTW - there are many, many examples of good Spanish reds nowadays that are not overoaked, so don't despair - just choose the right ones!)

Last fall we had two extensive blind tastings of Bierzo wines at elmundovino.com, and the clear-cut stars were Raúl Pérez's Ultreia de Valtuille 2008 (only 28 euros here, if you can find it - much more expensive in the US!) and Alvaro Palacios' Moncerbal Corullón 2007. Two entirely different styles - fresher, subtler for the Ultreia, powerful and spicy for the Moncerbal. Our other top-rated wines (ratings equivalent to 93 points in the WA or WS point systems, or higher) were Tares P3 2006 Dominio de Tares, Tilenus Pieros 2002 Bodegas Estefanía, Ucedo 2005 Bodegas Gancedo, La Bienquerida 2007 Losada Vinos de Finca, Carracedo 2006 Bodega del Abad. Raúl Pérez's less expensive cuvées, Ultreia 2008 and Ultreia St. Jacques 2008, were right behind.

Then there are the outstanding, lighter mencía wines from the neighboring Ribeira Sacra appellation, of course.

A frequent technical problem with mencía wines: they are easily affected by brett. At low concentrations, it's no problem, but beware.