Wines of Rueda Tasting, London
21-Oct-08 - To the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington, an extremely posh place with a lovely sunny room for a wine tasting: the York Suite is light and airy with plenty of space to move about, in contrast with some of the tastings I've been to over the years. This was a showcase for the wines of Rueda, organised by Gerald Lawson-Tancred of Hispanic Consulting. Eighteen bodegas had booked to exhibit and, on the day, seventeen actually arrived, including several familiar faces: Adrian Hunter from Berkmann (né Laymont & Shaw), Pablo del Villar from Hermanos Villar, the lovely Viki Pariente from José Pariente (née Dos Victorias), the vivacious Manuela Calzado from Grupo Yllera, and the ddg Alejandra Sanz, brother of Ricardo of that ilk from Sitios de Bodega - an offshoot of Castilla la Vieja (see below).
I started off with Viki Pariente (as she was the first to get the bottles open). She founded Bodega Dos Victorias with university friend Victoria Benavides in Rueda, later expanding into Toro but, as of the last vintage, the two have gone their separate ways - the other Victoria taking over the production of red wines in Toro. Viki was showing 2007 José Pariente Verdejo, as it were 'straight' and barrel-fermented, as well as a Sauvignon which she made for the first time last year. All the wines showed extremely well - straight 17s out of 20 - but, oddly, my favourite was 2007 Verdejo barrel-fermented. I say 'oddly' because I don't usually go for barrel-fermented Verdejo, but in this case she has managed to retain all the delicious, fresh, herby fruit of the grape and just given it a 'mantle' of gently-toasty oak. She's represented by Georges Barbier of London.
I went on to taste every wine in the room (some 32 wines), and then retasted those which had got my highest marks (17-18), both on their own and with food (excellent buffet, by the way, and lots of it). These are they:
Agricola Castellana - Berkmann Wine Cellars - 2007 Azumbre Verdejo Ungrafted old vines - all that fresh fruit but with real 'backbone' - 17/20 (18 with food).
Avelino Vegas - PLB wines - 2007 Montespina Verdejo - long, sappy, spicy, herby, delicious - 18/20; 2007 Sauvignon - good, ripe big Sauvignon style with a 'meaty' mid-palate - 17/20.
Félix Sanz - 2007 Viña Cimbrón Verdejo - 'a lovely three-dimensional style', I wrote in my notes, excellent structure and length - 18/20.
François Lurton - 2007 Cuesta de Oro Verdejo barrel-fermented - yes, another woody wonder, but that 'meaty' mid-palate with warmth and ripeness - 17/20 (18 with food).
Matarromera - Premier Vintners - 2007 Emina Sauvignon - just beautifully clean, fresh and delicious. A real swiggeroon - 17/20.
Castilla la Vieja - C&D Wines - 2007 Palacio de Bornos, both 'straight' and barrel-fermented - I have admired both these wines for years: impeccable winemaking by Antonio Sanz, lovely fruit, and delicious - both 17/20.
Gótica - 2007 Trascampanas Verdejo and Sauvignon - two beautifully-made wines, the Verdejo rich and spicy, the Sauvignon with lovely 'soft' fruit and excellent length.- both 18/20.
Naia - 2006 Naiades Verdejo barrel-fermented - astonishing power and weight for a Verdejo wine, but balanced out by the judicious use of oak. Splendid - 18/20.
Javier Sanz - 2007 Villa Narcisa Verdejo both 'straight' and barrel-fermented (old vines) - lovely 'honeyed' tones from the former and smoky-oaky complexity from the latter - both 17/20.
Sitios de Bodega - 2007 Con Class ('straight') and V3 Verdejo barrel-fermented (old vines - 80-100 years) - both wines immaculately made by Ricardo Sanz. Con Class teases out the richness of the fruit, and V3 has a subtle but pervading richness with those 'petrolly' old-vines hints - both 17/20.
Oh, and if there seem to be a lot of Sanzs in Rueda, that's because family members keep setting up in business for themselves: Antonio seceded from his father's business to set up Castilla la Vieja, and his son and daughter Ricardo and Alejandra did the same in 2004. According to Alejandra their father is "not in a position to criticise us for doing the same as he did!" Only Javier Sanz (above) is not related.
It seems churlish to leave out so many wines, to the vast majority of which I gave 16, but there are limits to space, even on a blog. Suffice it to say that the day confirmed my thoughts that Rueda is now unquestionably producing wine of world-class quality as a matter of course, and doing it with a native Spanish grape variety, to which I say 'hurrah!'
I started off with Viki Pariente (as she was the first to get the bottles open). She founded Bodega Dos Victorias with university friend Victoria Benavides in Rueda, later expanding into Toro but, as of the last vintage, the two have gone their separate ways - the other Victoria taking over the production of red wines in Toro. Viki was showing 2007 José Pariente Verdejo, as it were 'straight' and barrel-fermented, as well as a Sauvignon which she made for the first time last year. All the wines showed extremely well - straight 17s out of 20 - but, oddly, my favourite was 2007 Verdejo barrel-fermented. I say 'oddly' because I don't usually go for barrel-fermented Verdejo, but in this case she has managed to retain all the delicious, fresh, herby fruit of the grape and just given it a 'mantle' of gently-toasty oak. She's represented by Georges Barbier of London.
I went on to taste every wine in the room (some 32 wines), and then retasted those which had got my highest marks (17-18), both on their own and with food (excellent buffet, by the way, and lots of it). These are they:
Agricola Castellana - Berkmann Wine Cellars - 2007 Azumbre Verdejo Ungrafted old vines - all that fresh fruit but with real 'backbone' - 17/20 (18 with food).
Avelino Vegas - PLB wines - 2007 Montespina Verdejo - long, sappy, spicy, herby, delicious - 18/20; 2007 Sauvignon - good, ripe big Sauvignon style with a 'meaty' mid-palate - 17/20.
Félix Sanz - 2007 Viña Cimbrón Verdejo - 'a lovely three-dimensional style', I wrote in my notes, excellent structure and length - 18/20.
François Lurton - 2007 Cuesta de Oro Verdejo barrel-fermented - yes, another woody wonder, but that 'meaty' mid-palate with warmth and ripeness - 17/20 (18 with food).
Matarromera - Premier Vintners - 2007 Emina Sauvignon - just beautifully clean, fresh and delicious. A real swiggeroon - 17/20.
Castilla la Vieja - C&D Wines - 2007 Palacio de Bornos, both 'straight' and barrel-fermented - I have admired both these wines for years: impeccable winemaking by Antonio Sanz, lovely fruit, and delicious - both 17/20.
Gótica - 2007 Trascampanas Verdejo and Sauvignon - two beautifully-made wines, the Verdejo rich and spicy, the Sauvignon with lovely 'soft' fruit and excellent length.- both 18/20.
Naia - 2006 Naiades Verdejo barrel-fermented - astonishing power and weight for a Verdejo wine, but balanced out by the judicious use of oak. Splendid - 18/20.
Javier Sanz - 2007 Villa Narcisa Verdejo both 'straight' and barrel-fermented (old vines) - lovely 'honeyed' tones from the former and smoky-oaky complexity from the latter - both 17/20.
Sitios de Bodega - 2007 Con Class ('straight') and V3 Verdejo barrel-fermented (old vines - 80-100 years) - both wines immaculately made by Ricardo Sanz. Con Class teases out the richness of the fruit, and V3 has a subtle but pervading richness with those 'petrolly' old-vines hints - both 17/20.
Oh, and if there seem to be a lot of Sanzs in Rueda, that's because family members keep setting up in business for themselves: Antonio seceded from his father's business to set up Castilla la Vieja, and his son and daughter Ricardo and Alejandra did the same in 2004. According to Alejandra their father is "not in a position to criticise us for doing the same as he did!" Only Javier Sanz (above) is not related.
It seems churlish to leave out so many wines, to the vast majority of which I gave 16, but there are limits to space, even on a blog. Suffice it to say that the day confirmed my thoughts that Rueda is now unquestionably producing wine of world-class quality as a matter of course, and doing it with a native Spanish grape variety, to which I say 'hurrah!'
posted by John Radford at
09:09
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