We headed into sunny Spain for our latest tasting, sampling a white wine from Galicia and a classic "oaky" red from Rioja.
Tobelos Rioja Crianza 2004 RRP 16.95 (Bodega La Encina)
If you're travelling into Rioja from the north, 'La Encina' (named after the estate's century old oak tree), with its striking, minimalist cellar, is the first bodega you'll encounter. It's closely followed by elite outfits Rioja Alta, Muga and Cune. Encina's debut 2002 vintage instantly placed them among the elite, a relief after vast expenditure on the winery and 1,200 American barrels.
This wine was oak-aged for 12 months, and the velvety blend of Tempranillo/Garnacha has rich aromas of blackberries, vanilla and spice. Beautifully smooth five years after vintage...thats one of the great things about Rioja..the wines are aged quite a bit before they release them for sale.
This definitely helps their drinkability..oaky wines can take a few years to soften up and hit their best...an absolute cracker..great with lamb or Sunday Roast.
Our White wine was Valminor Albarinho 2007 RRP 18.95
This beautiful wine comes from Galicia in the North-West of Spain, a cool climate, maritime region which (surprisingly for Spain) is very green. not unlike Ireland!
The wine has lovely bracing acidity, its very fresh and grapefruity with hints of melon and apricot..really tasty as an aperitif before your dinner and it also works beautifully with fish or seafood.
Albarinho wines can seem a bit pricey at first, but they are considered to be the greatest white wines from Spain.This one is a consistently good performer, we've tasted several vintages now, so its a good place to start with Albarinho.
You can listen to my weekly winespot every Wednesday morning between 10 and 11am on Country Mix 106.8fm.
Great !
ReplyDeletehttp://www.galicianwine.com