Allende at Hibiscus

16-Feb-09 - As it happens I had a telephone conversation with Claude Bosi for a feature we're doing in YES CHEF! Magazine in the summer, just before he learned that he'd won back his second star in January, 2009, after moving Hibiscus from Ludlow to Mayfair, but that's not why I was there. I'd been invited by Damian Carrington from Fields, Morris and Verdin, who import the wines of Finca Allende in Rioja. This, in case you've missed it, is one of the so-called 'new-wave' bodegas of the region, run by Miguel-Ángel de Gregorio, who grew up on the Marqués de Murrieta estate, where his father was the winemaker. He worked in the industry after graduation, most notably perhaps at Bodegas Bretón, before setting up on his own in 1995 in the fabl'd village of Briones. Since then his wines have become legendary as examples of what I call 'post-modern' Rioja - taking classic, traditional methods and reinventing them for the 21st century.

The tasting was to showcase wines going back to the earliest vintages, both white and red, as well as to taste the current vintages from Allende and Gregorio's new venture in La Mancha, Finca Coronado.

This is how it went:

Allende Blanco 2003, 2001 and 1999. These are wines barrel-fermented in new Alliers with considerable batonaje over six months with a further 12-15 months in the barrel, and I treat them together as I found them all disappointing. The grape mix varies from 80:20 to 60:40 Viura:Malvasía, and the colours ranged from full straw to pale gold. The 2003 had a lovely, soft, herby, musky, 'honeysuckle' nose with vanillin overtones, and some rich fruit with crisp acidity on the palate, but showed a hint of oxidation on the finish which did not bode well. The 2001 was showing that hint of oxidation on the nose as well, and in spite of a 'big, meaty palate' seemed to be tiring on the finish. The 1999 was, frankly, well past its best: not exactly fading but with that 'almond paste' nose and fairly prominent oxidation on the finish. Miguel-Ángel insists that the wines are 'for eternity', but I suspect that he was in the minority on this occasion...

...Especially as the 2006 (£16.55 - BBR, Brompton Wine, Bacchanalia) showed so magnificently with the amuse-bouche (a poached egg-yolk in a palm-heart sauce, served in an immaculately-beheaded eggshell with a toasted 'soldier' - delicious) and the fish course (carpaccio of pollack with black radish - sublime). The wine offered lovely, silky oak leading to bright, clear fruit and a crisp, well-balanced finish: excellent.

I asked him whether he'd be looking at the newly-authorised white minority varieties: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Verdejo. He was unequivocal: "never, never, never!"

The reds are another matter, of course. They all showed very young, vibrant purple-ruby colour and I asked Miguel-Ángel what he though was the optimum age for drinking. In his disarmingly honest way he simply replied that he didn't know: "they haven't been around long enough yet."

Although he has an understandable fatherly attachment to his whites, the reds are the wines which have built the reputation of Finca Allende. Calvario is a small (less than 2ha) vineyard planted in 1945, which Miguel finally bought after years of courting the previous owner. The wines are made from Tempranillo, Garnacha and Graciano and aged in new Alliers for 14-16 months:

Calvario 2004 - Dark purple//big spiky, spicy fruit, some richness//big structure, tight fruit locked into a tannin 'shell'; complexity on the mid-palate and an austere finish but with real potential. 2-5 years 17/20.

Calvario 2001 - Purple//more aromatic, perfumed, delicious floral, almost blackcurrant undertones//very clean, crisp tannins and excellent balance, still some austerity on the finish but excellent structure. 2-5 years 17/20.

Calvario 1999 (the first vintage) - Ruby//much more aromatic, perfumed, elegant, floral//the tannins are still there, but fruit is coming forward, very elegant structure, complex finish, but STILL needs 2-5 years! 18/20

Calvario 2005 is the current vintage (£63.60 BBR) - Purple//big, soft, rich fruit, power and warmth. This was magnificent with the main course (double breast of squab with confit leg: probably the best pigeon I have ever tasted, melt-in-the-mouth tender... But then, Claude Bosi does have two Michelin stars). The finish I noted as 'soothing, smoothing, excellent'. Weird or what?

With the pigeon we were also able to taste the 2004 Finca Coronado (£15.60 BBR, Brompton Wine Co., Bacchanalia) from Gregorio's estate in Argamasilla de Calatrava in La Mancha. Here he grows Tempranillo, Cabernet-Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot and Petit Verdot, mechanically harvested, destalked and fermented for 20 days before spending 14 months in Alliers. This had dry 'crusty' tannins on the foretaste but with that rich Cabernet-Sauvignon 'blackcurrant' slipping in on the mid-palate: a delicious wine in a rather 'new world' style.

Aurus wines are Finca Allende's 'flagship', made from old-vines Tempranillo and Graciano, hand selected in the vineyard and then again in the bodega before a 30-day fermentation and 24 months in Tronçais oak.

Aurus 2001 - Purple//big, rich, deep-dark fruit, subtle, aromatic//bigbig fruit bigbig tannins, enormous structure, power, richness, fruit, but austere finish with elegance and warmth. 18/20.

Aurus 2000 - Purple//ripe warmth is creeping in here, rich, aromatic, delicious//just fab mid-palate with perfect balance between fruit and tannins but still tremendous potential; long, dark, austere finish, still needs time, but singing. 19/20.

Aurus 1996 - Purple-ruby//rather subtle, slightly 'gamey' style//lipsmackingly crisp fruit, clean, still some austerity, long STILL NEEDS TIME! 18½/20.

The current vintage is 2005 (£107.65 The Vineking, Bolton Food and Wine) and we had it with a very nice selection of four ripe cheeses served at the right temperature - there was Brie, Stilton, Comté and something else and the waiter explained that the restaurant's policy is not have a truckload of cheeses but to have a smaller number of favourites which can be maintained at service temperature so that diners will always be able to enjoy them. We certainly did with the Aurus: huge, blockbusting fruit on the foretaste, well able to cope with the ripest of cheeses, incredibly long but... It's still not really ready. Oh well...

These are magnificent wines and have already become some of the 'new classics' of Rioja, and it'll be a great pleasure to follow them as they mature - assuming they're not all sold before that happens.

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