tasting wine
On Greg’s palate this is an 89 pointer from one of my favorite regions of Spain – Jumilla. This has a deep red color and the aromas incite tart red raspberries and earth. On the palate it is acidic, which I love, and tannic with earthy red fruits just like the nose. There are very subtle hints of licorice and plums. I wish I had more of the $15 wine I got from Wine Library.
What an experience. I was away at a conference this past week. Some friends and I have a tradition of bringing some unusual wines to this conference and tasting them together. This year was extra special. I got to taste a wine that was older than I. This was the oldest wine I have ever tasted. I’m talking about a 1964 Rioja Gran Reserva from the great Conde de Los Andes. When a wine is this old you are not sure what to expect. It is a delicate thing at this stage of its life. To think I was opening a bottle that has been sealed for as long as I have been alive. Regardless of how the wine tastes, it is truly like drinking history. I can’t describe how amazing it is.
When the foil was removed and we saw the cork underneath we were just a bit concerned. The cork was completely blackened after decades of standing still. The black residue is likely lead tartrates produced from wine seeping through the cork and reacting with the all lead foil.
Very carefuly the corkscrew was inserted into the delicate cork. Twist after slow twist pushed the screw deeper and deeper into the bottle. Oh so gently the cork was pulled from the bottle. I don’t think it would have mattered how gentle we were. That cork was destined to fall apart. Yes, it did break leaving a plug in the bottle. Surprisingly the cork looked quite good. It had kept it’s integrity over these forty plus years well. Carefully the remaining cork was skewered by the corkscrew and lifted from the neck.
After all these years this rioja finally met air. Into a glass it went. The color was brown, of course, but it had a surprising amount of redness remaining.
After a quick swirl I brought the glass to my nose and inhaled deeply. Sherry acetaldehyde and earthy notes hit my nose like a sledge hammer. There was no fruit present. I could tell that it was still wine. There were no odors that would indicate spoilage, only oxidation.
As I lifted the glass to my lips I couldn’t help wonder if the men who picked the grapes ever realized their efforts would last so long. I wondered if the winemaker who produced this wine was still alive. I wondered what the countryside of Spain looked like as the grapes were crushed. I wondered who carefully filled these bottles and sealed them with the cork that we just broke.
The wine hit my palate and I was delighted. Well, the wine wasn’t great. I would say it was 15-20 years past its prime. Ok, so I’m making up that number. I think it might have been good at 20 years old but I may be wrong. No, I wasn’t delighted by good taste. I was delighted to find the wine was still wine in one form or another. In our old age we all get wrinkled and stained from years of toil. We may not be attractive on the outside but we have wonderful wisdom of the ages on the inside. That is how I thought about this wine. The fruit was depleted long ago. It still had a good acid but it tasted a bit flat. Left behind like a rotting corpse was a wine tasting of forest floor and age old compost. It was earthy and pungent. It tasted a lot like chewing on a brown paper bag that had been dumped in the compost bin. It was not offensive. I think that’s about all you can ask of an old timer like this. Truly an experience that I will remember for a long long time. Thank you Richard.
2004 Campo Viejo Crianza tempranillo from Rioja.
Light in color with an interesting nose of rusty nails and red plums. The prune fruits come through a little bit on the palate along with a nice acidity and light red fruits. Nothing serious here but a decent quaff for the price. 82 points.
I am a huge fan of the Albariño grape grown mostly in the Rais Baixas region of Spain. This is a grape that expresses very interesting tropical fruit qualities that I just adore. When I saw this Oriel 2004 Albariño in my local shop for $11 I had to pick it up.
The wine had a delightful golden color and the nose did not disappoint. It had aromas of pear, pineapple, mango, papaya and all the things I usually associate with this grape. Aromatically it was quite interesting. It fell flat on the palate, however, in a big way. Oh, it had a nice acidity and flavors of pineapples and honey for days. There were hints of apricot and lemon (as in lemon pledge furniture polish). It was very light and overall not as interesting as I expected. I would give this one an 85 if I were to score it.
Generally I don’t usually think of wine when I have sushi. I much prefer a nice light crisp clean beer to cut through the wasabi and the vinegared rice. It is so difficult to pair a wine with all the flavors that are going on with sushi. I mean soy sauce, horseradish, ginger, fish, vinegar all together is bound to clash with wine. I know some people reach for a sweeter gewurztraminer or riesling and they are ok, but not great in my humble opinion. I would pair a crisp sparkling wine with sushi over a still wine any day. I am not the only one who thinks this way. There is a wine made especially for sushi and it comes from, of all places, Spain! That’s right. Sushi wine from Spain. What an interesting story this is. This was introduced to America by Freixenet and it is produced in Tierra de Castilla, Spain. This is a creation of winemaker Yoko Sato who spent a year developing the perfect blend to compliment sushi. She chose a blend of grapes that bring together the crisp clean qualities that would be demanded of it. It’s made from 60% airen, 30% macabeo and 10% muscat grapes. It has a lighter alcohol rolling in at around 11%. It is balanced with just a hint of sweetness to bring it off dry and it has a crisp acidity that helps cut through the spice and the oils of the fish. On my palate I found it to be quite enjoyable and yes, it did go well with sushi. It had a nose of citrus, grass and fruit that was hard to distinguish. It was crsip and light in the mouth with flavors of grapefruit and gooseberry. The muscat provided a nice lingering fruity finish. It was refreshing and clean, off dry but definitely not sweet. It actually paired very well with sushi as it was designed to do. All in all I would say if I had to pair a still wine with sushi I wouldn’t think twice about reaching for a bottle of Oroya. I still prefer beer though.