Ribeira Sacra "Alodio"

There was a time in my life, in my earlier days of wine exploration, when I drank Spanish wine much more often than I do at present. Rioja, Ribera del Duero, Bierzo, Albarino and wines of any number of other regions, vines or styles were just as likely to grace my table as were the wines of France, Northern Italy and Germany that more typically find their way home with me now. I think that's a fairly typical pattern in the evolution of the exploration of any field, whether it be art, music, science or, in this case, wine. Fields narrow, focus intensifies. The urge to dig deep overcomes the tendency to dabble on a more piecemeal basis. Once those roots have grown, though, the desire to venture outward returns. And the country that most often calls me back, much more so than Australia or the US, is Spain.

But where to start? I've definitely fallen into the same trap as others, where Spanish wine begins and ends with R. Lopez de Heredia, along with the occasional dalliance with Sherry. Aside from that, too much of what I have drunk over the last decade has been either dried out and bereft of expression or pumped up into something jammy and homogeneous. Recently, however, I've made some intriguing initial excursions into Ribeira Sacra, a tiny, hilly, cool climate area of Galicia that's been receiving loads of attention of late from wine writers such as Eric Asimov and Gerry Dawes. I enjoyed an eye-opening bottle of Guimaro's Ribeira Sacra "B1P" at NOPA in San Francisco earlier this fall and more recently checked in with the following, a recommendation from both Old School Joe and the Spanish wine buyer at NYC's Chambers Street Wines.


Ribeira Sacra Summum "Alodio" Mencía, Enológica Témera (Bodegas Costoya) 2008
$15. 13% alcohol. Diam. Importer: A José Pastor Selection, Vinos & Gourmet, Richmond, CA.
Enológica Témera is a small estate, with five hectares of vines and an annual production of about 4,000 cases, located in the Riberas do Sil subregion of Ribeira Sacra. Winemaker Carlos Costoya's entry-level red, this cuvée of "Alodio" is a varietal expression of the local vine Mencía. (There's a white version as well, made from Godello.) Though this is true Mencía, rather than the Galician strain of Cabernet Franc that is also rather confusingly known as Mencía, there's nonetheless a familial resemblance here to cool climate Cab Franc.

Medium purplish-red in the glass, it leads with simple, direct aromas of fresh red fruit – cherries and cassis, mostly – and finishes with a very soft, round texture marked by refreshing acidity. It reminds me, as hinted at above, of a fruity, bistro-style Chinon crossed with the warmer scents of a clean, medium-bodied Côtes du Rhône. After a half-hour in the glass, its aromas reach a higher tone, giving scents of blueberry skin and violets. From there, the wine remains very consistent, practically unchanged in fact, into its second day, moving just ever so slightly into the tarter end of the red fruit spectrum.

If I've a complaint, it's that the wine seems overly polished, its edges removed to the point that its texture is slightly glossy. The lack of any overt winemaking signatures, however, lead me to think that this soft simplicity is most likely the product of young vine fruit, fruit that hasn't yet reached a deeper expression. I'll look forward to seeing where it leads in future vintages. And in the meanwhile – this is a reasonably good value at $15 or less per bottle – I'd hardly say no to "Alodio" as an added option in my ever developing rotation of no-nonsense, every day wines.

Intro only...

Wine Blogging Wednesday #35

Writing is an inherently anti-social endeavor. Whether with pen in hand, a sentimental old manual typewriter, a spiffy computer or an on the go blackberry, writing is a self-absorbed activity. As a guy that some might think displays the occasional anti-social tendency, I take to it comfortably. Blogging though, in particular wine and food blogging, has developed into something of a social community in recent times. One of the builders of that community in wine blogging circles is Lenn Thompson, who three years ago began a group participation event called Wine Blogging Wednesday (WBW). Since its inception, WBW has blossomed into a global event that is hosted by a different wine blogger each month.

This month’s installment, “Passionate Spain,” is being hosted by Michelle at My Wine Education. The goal she set was two-fold. Find a wine, any wine, from Spain, preferably something less obvious than Rioja. And try to spend less than $10 for the bottle.

I grasped the first part of the task with relish. And I decided right away to dispense with the second part. As noble as the intention may be, finding single digit price tags in the wine world today limits one’s choices to wines from large scale if not mass producers and inevitably leans toward non-estate bottling wineries. It’s just a side-effect of global economies of scale. This is magnified currently by the weakness of the dollar; European wines that were priced at $8-10 four years ago now go for $11-15 if not more. There’s also a more myopic reason behind my decision to forego part two of Michelle’s assignment. I work in a wine shop that has only recently dipped its toes into the world of Spanish wines and this edition of WBW presented a perfect opportunity to get to know one of our new bottles a little better.

Toro “Quinta Quietud,” Quinta de la Quietud 2002
http://www.quintaquietud.com
Toro is a DO located in the valley of the Duero, southeast of the province of Zamora in western Castilla y León, not terribly far south from the Atlantic and quite close to the border of Portugal. Red wine production in Toro is dominated by one vine, Tinta de Toro, a local clone of Tempranillo. This is the top wine from Quinta de la Quietud, produced from 100% Tinta de Toro from the estate’s best organically farmed vineyards which are cropped to extremely low yields of 20 hectoliters per hectare. After a fifteen day fermentation and maceration, the wine spent 20 months in oak barriques – 70% French and 30% American, 1/3 new, 1/3 barrels of one wine and 1/3 barrels of two wines. The end result is a wine of rich concentration (14.5°), a dark black robe and thick legs. Aromas are of raw and roasted meat, blackberries, black raspberries, cassis and garrigue. The palate is rich, with loads of dark fruit, well integrated oak and a slight alcoholic kick sealed by a firm tannic grip on the finish. An ideal pairing for grilled meats and roasted game, I enjoyed it last night with a simple dinner of bison burgers, roasted beets and grilled onions and zucchini. In spite of its power and backbone, it’s a wine that I feel will be best enjoyed now and over the next 3-4 years. And at around $30 a bottle, it slightly more than triples the suggested guidelines of this week’s blog event. Sorry Michelle….

And what’s that I hear? Today is Thursday… your first foray into Wine Blogging Wednesday and you’re a day late. What can I say? I ran out of steam last night. I guess the Toro took over.

Intro only...