More Rioja!

I guess Rioja is my wine of the month, if I had one! Yesterday came the sad news of the passing of Enrique Forner, founder of Marques de Caceres, the iconic Spanish Rioja brand. This is my go-to value wine, with the Crianza priced around $10. It is consistent and always tasty. I actually have a bottle at home right now.

Last week we had our Wines of Spain tasting class at SFWC, featuring 3 wines from Rioja, a white and 2 reds. This Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia White Rioja from 1993 was very unique, with an almost Sherry-like expression on the nose but a creaminess on the palate. Great acidity and dry with complex flavors of marzipan and meringue. Six years of aging so the oak was very well integrated. The wine is composed of estate grown Viura (90%) and Malvasía (10%), traditional Spanish white grapes in the region.

Viva Rioja!

Wines of Spain @ SFWC

This week in wine school Jordan Mackay, James Beard-award winning author, took us on a tour of Spain. We traveled to Cataluna – home of Cava; Rias Baixas – home of Albarino; Rueda – home of Verdejo; Navarra – home of Garnacha; Rioja – home of Tempranillo; Ribera del Duero – another Tempranillo hotspot; and Priorat – famed for Garnacha, Carignan, Cab Sauv, Merlot, and Syrah. From value wines to coveted classics and newcomers, Spain runs the gamut. The Cava, Albarino, and Verdejo were all refreshing, lively and costing around $20 or less. The 1993 White Rioja was super complex, with Sherry-like notes and a creaminess that was very unique.  One of our storage members, Shirley, brought a 2005 Rioja to share, and we compared this with the 2004 Muga in our lineup. Muga is a more traditional producer and they use mostly French oak, whereas the Remirez de Ganuza that Shirley brought was a more modern style, more fruit-forward with heavy American oak. The last two wines were very special, high-end wines from Ribera del Duero and Priorat. They had a complexity and finesse that was noticeable, and the class loved these wines. Personally the Bodegas Emilio Moro Malleolus Valderramiso 2007 from Ribera del Duero was my favorite!

The wines:

1. Segura Viudas Reserva Heredad Cava

2. Fillaboa Albariño 2009 – Rias Baixas

3.  Condesa Eylo Verdejo 2008 – Rueda

4.  R. Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia White Rioja 1993

5.  El Chaparral de Vega Sondoa Garnacha 2009 – Navarra

6.  Muga Prado Enea Gran Reserva Rioja 2004

Bonus: Remirez de Ganuza Rioja 2005

7.  Bodegas Emilio Moro Malleolus Valderramiso 2007 – Ribera del Duero

8.  Dits del Terra Priorat 2005 – Garnacha & Carignan

Salud!

Still a lot of life in this one

This past weekend my boyfriend's family visited and we celebrated his mom's 60th birthday with a bottle of Vina Real 1951 Rioja (actually 2 bottles). Incredible wine! Brick red color with just a bit of sediment. Lots of stewed fruit and warm spice on the nose and palate - very smooth yet lively. We had the first bottle with some cheeses from Cowgirl Creamery. The cork was a bit moldy on top under the foil capsule, so we were worried the wine wouldn't be good, and it crumbled as we tried to extract the half that just didn't want to come out, but underneath it all the wine was fantastic. The second bottle was decanted in a restaurant and had a chance to really open up, so it was even better than the first, especially with the lamb and duck dishes we had at Boulevard in San Francisco. What a treat!

Happy 60th Birthday, Nancy!

Roll out the barrel

Recently I visited a wine bar in San Francisco called Barrique, aptly named because they serve wine out of barrels. They vinify some of their own wine, either from purchased grapes or juice, or they acquire bulk wine and barrel age it and blend it themselves. They only make 60 gallons of any wine - enough to fill one barrel. They then serve it from these barrels behind the bar. Interesting business model. The barrique-to-glass system is patent-pending, so they couldn't tell us anything about the delivery system, but I imagine there must be some sort of airtight bag inside that keeps oxygen out as the wine level goes down.

The wine list features their own wines plus a couple of well known bubblies to get your palate ready for these big California wines. I recommend the Sommelier's flight of 3 wines to get a good sampling. I started with the J Russian River Valley Brut Rose sparkling wine and then tried some of the Barrique Selections. I thought the Cabs were the best of the bunch, but the offerings change frequently so there's always a reason to go back. The truffle popcorn was a fantastic accompaniment to the wines :)