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Wine Of The Week: 2009 Granbazán Albariño (Rias Baixas)

18 Jul

Summer is here. If there is any question, it was 98 degrees in San Diego yesterday. Two things crossed my mind: 1) Ensure the air conditioning works; and 2) drink something really cold. Number one, check. Number two, got it! This week’s Wine of the Week was a wonderful choice, if I do say so myself – 2009 Granbazán Ámbar Albariño from Rias Baixas (located in Galicia in Northwestern Spain). But first, let us take a tour of the winery.

The Granbazán winery is an entrepreneurial project designed to unite the small and fragmented properties of Galicia in the early 1980′s. An initial lack of direction resulted in unlabeled bottles in the family cellar with not enough means or knowledge to offer the wines. Enter Granbazán (Agro de Bazán). With the addition of technological-oenologists, the development of the cold maceration process technique, and maturing albariño in French oak barrels (the first to do so), they are now producing some of the best albariños available on the Iberian peninsula!

I was fortunate enough to taste two of their albariño wines, the 2007 Granbazán Limousin and the just-released 2009 Granbazán Ámbar. Be it known that neither of these wines disappoint!  The first thing one notices about the 2007 Limousin is the beautiful frosted bottle. The grapes are hand-harvested from 28-year-old vines, destemmed, and very gently crushed. They are cooled and transferred to crio-macerators where a 12-hour prefermentive maceration (using dry ice) takes place. After a fermentation of 16 days the wine is matured in new French and Hungarian oak barrels for six months. In the glass, the Limousin shows a pale, golden color. On the nose, floral and fruit aromas take over with hints of oak. A wonderfully smooth wine on the palate, light citric fruit and soft oak caress your mouth as you swallow. This award-winning wine is in limited production (only 650 cases) but well worth seeking out.

Next (and the Wine of the Week) is the 2009 Ámbar Albariño. This wine was surely a treat for me. I absolutely love albariños and have found one of my all-time favorites whites in this wine. Destemmed grapes are submitted to a cold fermentation for eight hours and then the wine is fermented in stainless steel tanks for about one and a half months. The wine remains in these tanks for an additional eight months to mature and develop. Much like the Limousin a pale, golden color ensues in the glass. This wine is wonderful on the nose, with aromas of green apple and citrus. Crisp acidity and like flavors coat the palate of this wonderfully enjoyable wine. With the Ámbar I enjoyed some light tapas – padrón peppers, Manchego cheese, and pinchos morunos. I couldn’t imagine a better wine for the time. My only regret was that I did not have more of it!

Life is short. Drink Spanish wine!

 
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Posted in Rias Baixas, Wine of the Week

 

¡Campeones del Mundo! Congratulations, España!

11 Jul

For the past couple of days I could feel the tension and excitement mount as I and many around me prepared for Spain’s entry onto the World Cup Finals stage. This is the first time Spain has been to the finals (compared to three for the Netherlands); in the history of the World Cup no team has ever lost their first game to claim the trophy. Well, history was made today!

There is no better way to spend a day watching your favorite team play than with your best friends – and that’s just what I did! I have been preparing for this match (probably not quite as hard as our team has) for a few days, and it was well worth it! What to serve? What to drink? Well, I had a multitude of ideas and a plethora of choices – and none disappointed!

Of course, a celebratory toast was in order at the beginning of the match. It does not matter who wins as long as it is a good game. Yeah, right! I opted for a NV Codorniu Pinot Noir Cava (red in honor of our home country) and after quickly downing that bottle opened a 2006 Gramona Gran Cuvee Cava. Both were excellent and well-received by my guests as a fitting start to the competition. Munchies were in order for the early part of the game (before the “real” celebration took place) and we enjoyed some arbequina olives from Cataluña (El Masroig in Montsant), Tortilla Española, Manchego cheese, and some sliced Fuet (a thin, dry cured Catalan sausage).

With the score at halftime 0-0, I decided this was the perfect time sauté up some Padrón peppers and serve them alongside some crostini brushed with piquillo pepper mousse. With this we enjoyed a 2008 Pazo de Galegos Albariño from Rias Baixas. Anticipating the team’s win I was anxiously awaiting our celebratory wine and accompanying dish; but would it happen? Regular time – gone. Half one of overtime – gone, too! When Andrés Iniesta (who plays for FC Barça) scored the winning shot in the 116th minute of the second half of overtime we went crazy and my commemorative celebration was just minutes away. Tick, tock, tick, tock. It was over! Spain had won it’s first World Cup and all was right in the world – well, at least in Spain and in my home! Break out the wine and food, again. (Incidentally, did anyone catch the Queen jumping up and down?!)

I quickly (having decided this well in advance) opened a 2005 Isis (Montsant) that was waiting for just an occasion. This blend of Garnacha, Syrah, and Cariñena epitomizes our heroes in red and yellow: smooth, spicy, and with some “kick”! Quickly following our celebratory toast I headed for the kitchen to prepare a Fideuà (basically, a paella made with noodles instead of rice). We were soon partaking of a feast fit for, well, anyone in Spain who was as happy as we were! The Isis did not last long. Our encore wine was a 2005 Ijalba from Rioja made from 100% Graciano. Another excellent choice! Both wines complemented our meal with the ease and finesse that only (at least in my opinion) a Spanish wine can.

Is 2010 the year of Spain in sports? Last week Rafa Nadal won his second Wimbeldon title in the last three years; Alberto Contador is currently third after Stage 8 of the Tour de France. Stay tuned as the celebratory toasts just keep getting bigger and better!

Life is short. Drink Spanish wine!

 
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Posted in Cava, Montsant, Pairing, Rioja, Tapas, Tortilla Espanola

 

¡Vamos España! The Semi-Final Celebration

07 Jul

I watched with the world today (well, at least ALL of Spain) as the final seconds of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Semi-Final game ticked away and Spain emerged victorious over Germany with a score of 1-0. A momentous feat it was; and one reminiscent of the 2008 Euro Cup finals when they beat the same team (Germany) by the same margin (1-0) nearly two years to the day. Our boys from Spain looked absolutely fantastic! The best team truly won (but I am a bit biased). So, what next? The finals, of course. But what about between today’s win and Sunday’s game? Well, I opted for a celebration of gastronomic proportions.

After the celebration was over here in the U.S. (I’m sure it will continue for hours all over Spain), I wondered what I could prepare tonight that would honor our men in red and yellow. Tonight’s dinner celebration would be as diverse as our team – it would encompass the whole of Spain – one Spain. Following is the commemorative meal:

  • Tortilla with green peppers and chorizo representing Central Spain (you can add just about anything to a traditional Tortilla Española, but you cannot officially call it Tortilla Española);
  • Two cheeses: Garrotxa from Cataluña (Northeastern Spain) and Mahon from the island of Menorca (Balearic Islands off the coast of Northeastern Spain);
  • Padrón peppers from Galicia (Northwestern Spain);
  • Pinchos Morunos (beef) from Andalucia (Southern Spain)

And to drink? I opted for an incredible wine from the Toro D.O. – 2006 Numanthia “Termes”. Incidentally, this is my Wine of the Week as well. What an incredibly beautiful wine! The Toro region is situated in the province of Zamora and Valladolid and consists of about 50 bodegas which produce in excess of 11 million litres of wine annually. The 2006 Termes (which received 93 points from Wine Spectator) was a perfect match to tonight’s dinner of tapas from around the country. It is 100% Tinta de Toro (Tempranillo) and a spicy and slightly oaky wine with hints of cherry, licorice, and roasted coffee. This is a chewy, richly-tannic, medium-bodied wine with an incredibly tasty finish. It will drink well for about ten years, but I chose to decant for about an hour and it was incredible now. I would highly recommend seeking this wine out as the Numanthia wines have gained “cult” status and normally sell out. At around $25 a bottle this wine is a steal.

Sunday’s game prediction? Spain 2, Netherlands 0.  Sunday’s meal prediction? You’ll have to come back to find out.

Life is short. Drink Spanish wine!

 
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Posted in Cataluña, Pairing, Recipes, Red Wine, Tapas, Toro, Tortilla Espanola

 

Bodega On The Road: Great Match Los Angeles

05 Jul

I was recently afforded the opportunity to attend the 17th Annual Great Match featuring “vivacious varietals and tantalizing tastes from Spain”. The first of the three events scheduled for 2010 was held in Los Angeles on May 12 at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills (home to Bazaar, José Andrés’ first West Coast restaurant). The remaining two events will be held in New York City (I will be reporting on that one as well) on October 7 and Miami on October 14. These events feature wines (more than 130) from a variety of Spanish wine regions as well as showcase delicacies prepared by renowned local restaurants. They are held around the country in an attempt to introduce more people to Spanish food and wine. All of them include both media and consumer events so a wider audience can partake in the festivities – and that they are!

As is normally true for me as I anticipate the amazing jewels I will surely discover at these events I woke early and decided to head to Los Angeles early (one never can anticipate the traffic heading to LA from San Diego). Arriving about an hour early to the SLS Hotel and eagerly awaited my opportunity to partake of the plethora of amazing wines and tapas. Wines from Spain always hosts a tremendous event, and I had no reason to expect that this would be any different (and I attend as many as I can).

The first order of the business for the day was a pre-event seminar (with speaker Bruce Schoenfeld) featuring wines from Ribera del Duero. The past couple of years have seen an incredible U.S. campaign from this Denominación de Origen (D.O.), one of Spain’s most popular and highly respected. The following eight wines were tasted:

1. 2005 Viña Pedrosa Reserva
2. 2005 Montecastro
3. 2004 Lynus Pago de Infante Crianza
4. 2007 Viña Gormaz Tempranillo
5. 2006 Pago de los Capellanes Crianza
6. 2007 Emilio Moro Malleolus Sanchomartin
7. 2006 Aalto PS
8. 1991 Vega Sicilia Único

As I reviewed my notes to comment on the wines I enjoyed most I found that I had almost every one of them “starred.” Well, that does not help any, does it? It does go to show you that the wines produced in this region are of exceptional quality and worth seeking out. The prices on these wines ranged from $11 to $350. The great thing about Ribera del Duero? You do not need to spend $350 to get a quality wine – unless, of course, you want to! To learn more about the region of Ribera del Duero and it’s wines visit Drink Ribera. Drink Spain.

I was now primed and ready to go for the signature event. Entering the main ballroom at the SLS Hotel I knew that I was in my own private heaven, as I always am at these events. Various tapas adorned decorated tables around the perimeter of the room while 23 tables of almost every kind of Spanish wine awaited my arrival. Of the approximately 130 wines available I found my way to 55 of them. Two wineries represented here (many of the tables were hosted by importers and/or distributors featuring a variety of bodegas) were: 1) Granbazán/Mas de Bazán from Rias Baixas and Utiel-Requena (excellent Albariños and red wines); and 2) Bodegas Fariña with wines primarily from Toro (my favorite taste here was the Val de Reyes, a non-vintage late harvest Tempranillo).

This event saw a particularly robust representation of white and rosé wines from various parts of Spain. This is refreshing for me to see as there are so many great wines in Spain that remain undiscovered because the public is unfamiliar with varietals such as Godello, Verdejo, Treixadura, or Xarel-lo. Things are changing. Additionally, unknown red varietals are finding their way to discerning palates as well. Mencía (predominantly from Bierzo) and Bobal (from the Communidad Valencia) are taking their rightful space on store shelves. Events such as these help to broaden our oenological horizons. If you happen notice one taking place near you find a way to get there. I can guarantee that you will not regret it!

Life is short. Drink Spanish wine!

 
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Posted in Wine Events, Wine Tasting, Wine Travels

 

Spanish Wine Guy Is Back!

29 Jun

For those of you who check out this site regularly, please accept my sincerest apologies for not posting more frequently over the past few months.  I have been studying for a Securities exam for my job and today passed it!  As is the case with many of us who write, it is our second job – but our first love.  I always say, “Banking is my profession; Spanish wine is my passion!”  I promise to hit the webwaves with some new, fun, and interesting stories about incredible Spanish food and even better Spanish wine!  Stay tuned…

 
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Posted in Uncategorized

 
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