Vinus Durii, Zamora and Finca Constancia, Otero

01-02-Apr-09 - ...Because I was heading north-west to Zamora for Vinus Durii, which is a joint festival organised by the wine authorities in the valley of the Duero in Spain and the Douro (as it becomes) in Portugal. This year it was in Zamora, and I had a leisurely start, catching the only daytime direct Madrid-Zamora train of the day from Chamartín. [Anorak alert - trains] The Talgo leaves Madrid at 14:20 and arrives in Zamora at 16:48, calling at Segovia and Medina del Campo on the way. It's not a high-speed train and proceeds at a stately pace (about 60 mph on average, end-to-end, which is actually quite fast compared with most trains in the UK - especially those from the south coast to London). It is, however, very comfortable (the Spanish gauge - 1,672 mm or 5 ft 5.83 in - leads to more space and stability than the standard gauge - 1,435 mm or 4 ft 8½ in). Interestingly, about half way through the journey I was in the bar having a large one and noticed through the window that we were now on a non-electrified line, although we'd left Chamartín under 25 kV overhead power. The stewardess (charming young woman) confirmed that at an intermediate stop (presumably Segovia) the train switches to diesel traction for the rest of its journey (which ends in A Coruña). The delay had been little more than that at Farringdon when the Thameslink switches from 25 kV to third-rail: very well organised. [End of anorak alert].

Anyway, the organisers (Marta Martín and Óscar Díez of ITACyL - an agency which promotes the produce of Castilla y León) met me at the station in Zamora and transported me to the Parador Condes de Alba y Aliste, a magnificent palace built in 1459. I have stayed here before - albeit in November 1988 as part of the 'Aranda to Zamora Rally' which is another story for another time - and it remains exactly as I remember it: magnificent staircases, suits of armour, tapestries, four-poster beds and a splendid central cloister. It's also very conveniently situated for the Hospital de la Encarnación (where the events were being held), which is just across the Plaza de Viriato and an easy stroll, even for me.

Plaza de Viriato, looking across to the Parador Condes de Alba y Aliste

Not quite so easy was the stroll to the Restaurante La Oronja on the town centre, but the walk was worth it. This is a smart, modern place run by Ricardo Campos and his wife Conchi, and very much in the avant-garde style of Spanish cookery. They had created a special menu for us on the two nights I was there, including some specially blended wines with a mix of Spanish and Portuguese grapes varieties to mark this joint venture between the two countries, so there were no familiar brand names. On the first night we kicked off with a Verdejo with a carpaccio of tuna with toast and tomatoes - a new take on the traditional pan con tomate - which worked extremely well with the wine. Next up was a rosado Tempranillo with prawns, sweetbreads and ginger: an interesting combination and I wrote in my notes "it works with the pinko, but would I order it? No." This was followed by hake in a filo-pastry case served on a plate with 'haiku' designs, and absolutely delicious. The red was served next - a commemorative blend of Touriga Nacional (which dominated the nose) and Tempranillo served with roast oxtail and wild mushrooms (fab) and puddings included ice cream with biscuits and chocolate. It looked beautiful but had a slightly salty character that didn't work for me.

The Plaza Mayor, Zamora

The following day, Thursday 02-Apr-09, was the gig, but we had the morning free as the event didn't start until 18:30, so I spent it exploring the old town (at my own pace!). Zamora is the most beautiful and unspoilt place and most of the city centre is paved, so traffic isn't a problem. I visited a couple of bars and had a bite to eat (there was an 'official' lunch at the Parador but I didn't want anything too heavy) before strolling back for a siesta.

Calle de Renova, Zamora

We met up with the others at the Parador at about 17:30. The chairman was Fernando Gurucharri Jarque, President of the Unión Española de Catadores, which was the sponsor of the event, and the other speakers apart from me were José Peñín, of the eponymous guide, Luis Ramos Lopes, of Revista de Vinhos magazine in Portugal, Pierre Casamayor from the University of Toulouse, and Luboš Bárta of Sommelier magazine in the Czech Republic. I've met Luboš and Pierre a number of times before, perhaps most notably at the Concours Mondial tasting Brazil in 2006. José, of course, I've met many times.

Fernando briefed us about the subject of the presentation. The title was 'The Importance of Prescriptors in the Wine Market." I had some trouble figuring our what 'prescriptors' meant, but apparently it's a catch-all term for people who recommend (i.e. 'prescribe') wines: writers, presenters, educators, et al. The questions were: 'do they listen to us? Or the producers? Do we talk about quality, or technical matters, or fashion in wines?' My own contribution was along the lines of "my job is to steer people towards wines they might not otherwise discover, present them with a list, with my comments, and then let them decide for themselves." They may agree or disagree with my own thoughts, but at least they have an opportunity to try something other than the ghastly monumental range of anonymous, cheap, bland Cabernet-Sauvignon and Chardonnay which burden the supermarket shelves.

The Hospital de la Encarnación had the look of a beautifully elegant former church (with wonderful acoustics) and the event ran precisely to time. The general consensus seemed to be that we need to concentrate on what we do well and hope that people will take advantage of it. I mentioned the Castilla y León trip (see post of 16-Mar-09) in which we were able to introduce members of the Circle of Wine Writers (in this case) to regions they'd never heard of, making wine from grape varieties they'd never heard of. It was very revealing.

There was a good turnout in the audience and I spoke to a number of friends and acquaintances including Fernando Luaces from ADE and Patxi Martínez from Bodegas La Setera, both of whom had been involved in that same trip. Zev Robinson (see post of 03-Mar-09) was also there shooting film (well, video I suppose) and no doubt a DVD will surface in due course.

And then it was off to dinner again at La Oronja, with mostly the same wines but a different menu: olive oil and ham ice-cream to start (it sounds a bit Fat Duckish but it worked), then a repeat of the carpaccio of tuna, then a 'longboat in a sea of olive oil' - a slice of chicory with mango, endives, herbs and nuts, including a macadamia nut, presumably representing the Viking captain (well, I said it was avant-garde). It also included cockles (allergy alert!) But the chef made a special one for me using bacalao instead, which is real service. Next up was sea-bass with aubergines ('a bit soggy' I wrote in my notes) which I didn't finish. The red wine was another cross-border blend made especially for the occasion and was as big as a house: powerful Touriga Nacional with lots of tannin but nevertheless splendid. If there's any left it should be magnificent in a couple of years. We drank it with a piece of steak (rather small but absolutely delicious) with a single asparagus spear, carrot and green beans. Pudding was peach soup with an apricot bonbon and soft pastries. On the whole the meal was a tour-de-force and uniformly excellent. By this time Óscar had spotted my slow progress in the walking department and arranged for a car to take me back to the parador - service, indeed.

And, once again, I didn't have an early start the following morning, as I was going back to Madrid with Pierre Casamayor and Zev Robinson. The organisers had provided us with generous gifts, but mainly of a fragile and liquid variety, so I had to leave them behind. I had no space in my luggage and, of course, you can't take them on board a flight as hand baggage - very sad.

We got to Madrid Terminal 4 around midday and Pierre caught his flight home, while Zev and I hit the nearest café-bar to prepare for our trip to Otero...

03-Apr-09 - ...Which is some 100 km west of Madrid. In fact, it's in the middle of the DO Méntrida in Castilla-La Mancha, although two of the biggest investors here, Osborne (Solaz) and González Byass (GB) (Altozano), both Sherry giants, have not joined the Consejo Regulador, but market their wines as VdlT de Castilla. This may be about to change, however, if GB achieves its objectives.

I last visited here in December 2005, but a great deal has changed since then. The vineyard (which supplies the grapes for Altozano) was planted in 2001, but the central and 'best' area has now been earmarked for a project called Finca Constancia (FC), and a magnificent, brand-new bodega was constructed from scratch, completed in 2006, with the first vintage made there in 2008. GB makes no bones about going for 'DO Pago' status (or whatever it will be called under the new EU regulations) at some point in the future. Castilla-La Mancha was the originator of the 'Pago' classification (thanks largely to the efforts of Carlos Falcó, Marqués de Griñón) and contains four of the seven existing 'Pago' estates.

The winemaker, César Fernández has worked in this area of Spain for 9 years and he told me that grapes for FC come from 6 specific plots within the 76 plots which make up the 190 ha estate, none more than 15-20 minutes away from the winery at harvest time. The vineyard has the latest trendy 'half dry root' irrigation system and the vines are subject to rigorous canopy management. César works with 2 universities (Madrid and Castilla-La Mancha) on viticultural practices, using satellite mapping and all that sort of hi-tech stuff, and the individual plots are referenced by the many different soil types. Anyway, that's enough technical business - what do the wines taste like? After a mercifully brief look at steel tanks we went into the restaurant area for the tasting. Zev was shooting yards of film all over the place while I got stuck in. We tasted the full Altozano range which includes a Verdejo (VdlT Castilla y León) and a pink Tempranillo, but it's the reds which offer the real value:

Altozano 2006 Tempranillo/Shiraz 70/30, 4-5 months oak, 14% abv - lotsa pepper and big fruit, structure and complexity. A little austere on the mid-palate, but very promising long finish. 17/20

Altozano 2006 Tempranillo/Cabernet 65/35, 4-5 months oak, 14% abv - blackcurrant spice, lotsa fruit, richness and power on mid, elegant length. 17/20

Altozano 2008 Tempranillo, 3 months oak, 5% abv, (bottled 1 week) - classic Tempranillo strawberry/raspberry fruit, lovely clean fruit on the mid with 'teeny tiny tannins' (sorry, but that's what I wrote), and a hint of praline (?) on the finish. 17/20

Altozano 2008 Tempranillo/Cabernet 50/50, 4-5 months oak (tank sample pre-bottling) - big dark fruit, spicy nose, noticeable tannins and a hint of praline again on the mid. Austere on the finish but shows great promise. Needs bottle age. 17/20

Altozano wines retail in the UK for £4.99 to £5.99.

Hard at work - César in the background

Then it was on to cask samples which will be blended later (César ages all the varieties separately before deciding on the final blend). As these wines are the 'ingredients' for future blends there's no point in giving them a mark at this stage, but they all meet or surpass the 17/20 standard:

2008 Cabernet-Franc (assigned to Finca Constancia) - leafy, fresh spicy, austere mid but lotsa structure, clean fruit, fresh acidity, and the fruit does come through on the finish.

2008 Petit-Verdot (not assigned) - 'freshly-cut hedgerow' with hints of toffee on the nose, lovely big, warm, rich fruit on the palate with hefty tannins at the moment.

2008 Cabernet-Sauvignon (not assigned) - spiky, brambly fruit, hot spice, very austere on the nose and a great deal of tannin. This really does need time but shows promise.

2008 Graciano (not assigned but probably Finca Constancia) - very spicy, spiky fruit, power, concentration with enormous structure on the palate, more of the powerful fruit and a finish that goes on for ever.

2008 Syrah (not assigned) - big, spicy warm nose, some 'green' fruit , with a clean 'botanical' style on the palate, and a crisp, spicy finish.

2008 Tempranillo (assigned to Finca Constancia) - big, warm spicy nose, good weight, warmth and 'chewy' fruit on the palate, lots of extraction and very long.

Work almost done

To conclude, we got to taste Finca Constancia itself, although the available vintages were not made at this particular bodega; The wine is aimed at the £9.99 price bracket:

Finca Constancia 2007 - Shiraz/Cabernet 40/40 plus Cabernet-Franc, Tempranillo and Graciano (6 weeks in bottle) - smoky, roasty, 'barbecue' nose, with big tannins on the palate, fruit bubbling under heroically. This needs at least two or three years. 17/20

Finca Constancia 2006 (the first vintage - not available UK) - full, ripe, aromatic fruit on the nose, excellent integration and lovely balance of fruit, oak and tannins on the palate, long and delicious finish. 18½/20

Lunch!

Then it was on to lunch - an excellent spread of tapas including bacalao, wild mushrooms, the obligatory chorizo and other spicy sausages, steak and peppers and, of course, we did our best to do justice to the remains of the wines tasted, as well as finishing off with Matúsalem and Noë from Jerez. It was a memorable - and educational - visit. GB very generously put me up in a hotel in Madrid for the night to avoid a very late flight home. Indeed, check-in time wasn't until 13:20 the following morning which allowed a very leisurely morning and ample time in the lounge at Terminal 1 to type the notes up before departure. This had been an excellent week's work.

"...And left poor Davy Crockett to do the washing up." Nice view over the vineyards, though.

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