The Sept. issue of The Wine Enthusiast, which has my 3000-word cover story on Spanish wines is now available on-line at www.wineenthusiast.com. September.
Gerry Dawes
Gerry Dawes
Posts: 97 | Location: Suffern, NY USA | Registered: 23 March 2002
jaimemiguel wrote: "In early August I had the great pleasure to attend a bbq at my buddy's house near Madrid. Of course the Spanish wine was flowing - all of it great. There were two reds that I especially liked - El Parre�o from the Utiel Requena region (never heard of that region!). The other was Dehesa La Granja. It claims to be simple vino de mesa but it was excellent on a sweltering August night in Madrid with great spanish food and friends."
Denominaci�n de Origen Utiel Requena wines are from Valencia province. El Parre�o is a(probably a 100% Bobal varietal) red from Latorre Agrovin�cola in Venta de Moro (Valencia). Dehesa La Granja comes from Zamora and, while it is indeed a vino de mesa, it is far more than a simple wine. It is a Vino de La Tierra de Castilla-Le�n, a category which covers such wines as Mariano Garcia's Mauro. Dehesa La Granja is one of Alejandro Fernandez's newest projects and is part of a stable that includes Pesquera, Condado de Haza from the Ribera del Duero and El Vinculo from La Mancha.
I think Duraton river valley is being developed as a separate wine area off the Ribera del Duero.
Gerry Dawes
Gerry Dawes
Posts: 97 | Location: Suffern, NY USA | Registered: 23 March 2002
Mentrida, in the northern part of Toledo province and southwest of Madrid, has 13,000 hectares (32, 124 acres) under vine, 80% of which is garnacha. I have a great respect for garnacha in Spain, which is to say that I would not be surprised to see a really good example of that surface from Mentrida (there are some quite decent garnacha-base wines in the Madrid DO), but, as of last year, not one wine even made the cut in Gourmetour's Guia de Vinos. It has been a region that supplies a lot of blending and corriente table wines (75% of the production is sold a granel, or in bulk). Most of the wines are produced in co-ops. One wine, according to El Pais, may be worth looking for, and that is Don Cecilio, produced by Bodegas La Cerca, which has 400 hct. of garnacha, 45 hct. of tempranillo, and another 35 hct. of cabernet sauvignon. As far as vintages, most Mentrida will be sold young. 2000 should be good, 2001 very ripe and some good.
Gerry Dawes
Posts: 97 | Location: Suffern, NY USA | Registered: 23 March 2002
For those interested in reading more about Spanish wines here is a link to another article, which was a feature story in the Oct./Nov. issue of The Wine News.
Is a Crianza the same as a Cabernet? We drank a bottle that was quite good and I recall the label said Cabernet Sauvignon AND Crianza. So I was confused as to whether Crianza is the grape or the technique. Does that make sense?
Posts: 232 | Location: Seattle, WA, USA | Registered: 03 June 2001
But seriously folks, I am not big on wine but wanted to contribute a tad to this thread so I have composed a bit of a discourse of mine onto an audio file that depicts to perfection one of the greatest Spanish wines of all time.
This can be heard on any computer, no special plug-in nor program needed. CLICK HERE FOR THE AUDIO and enjoy. (this being an audio file, you will need to connect and turn on your speakers).
Frankly speaking, I always thought Spanish wine was Rioja or Sherry. Oh and perhaps that other drink they serve in summer called sangria.
But now that I am getting to know Spain, and reading this thread, I can see that there is much to learn and experience.
I aim to make a study (with help of some local friends in El Puerto) of the Sherries especially as they are - so to speak- on the doorstep.
But I would really like to understand the history of wine in Spain (was it those pesky Romans again) and have a good insight into the grape varieties. By the way, my favourite red - vino tinto - will have full TEMPRANILLO grape. But my knowledge of growers as well as vinyards is pretty well at stage uno.
By the way, I find Robin Garr's WINE LOVERS PAGE absolutely invaluable for getting quick comments or tips. He must have thousands of pages on his site. ! And of course he is based in USA.
Nige
Posts: 236 | Location: Cadiz Province and Sussex England | Registered: 07 October 2002
Those sherry 'houses' are so familiar. The Osborne sherry bodega is 10 minutes from my place in El Puerto, but I still haven't done the visit !
And this is the road sign which lists the bodegas in the town. EL PUERTO SHERRY ROAD SIGN I plan to get to know the OSBORNE labels first ! I am really looking forward to reading your article on Sherry. And am looking forward to exploring the bodegas in Sanlucar de Barrameda especially as it will entail a visit to the Bigote bar where one can soak up the really spendid tapas with some delicious manzanilla.
I also plan to collect old prints of the sherry trade with emphasis on views of the ships and the casks as well as the views of the river Guadelete. So if anybody spots one PLEASE email URGENTE !
Nige
Posts: 236 | Location: Cadiz Province and Sussex England | Registered: 07 October 2002
posted 15. october 2002 05:04 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Is a Crianza the same as a Cabernet? We drank a bottle that was quite good and I recall the label said Cabernet Sauvignon AND Crianza. So I was confused as to whether Crianza is the grape or the technique. Does that make sense?
*********
A crianza is a wine aged one year in oak and one year in bottle. Cabernet Sauvignon is the grape. What you had was Cabernet Sauvignon crianza wine.
A reserva is aged a minimum of one year in oak and two years in bottle before release and a gran reserva must be aged for two years in oak and 3 years in bottle before release.
These are the rules for wines from La Rioja. Other regions may have crianzas and reservas that spend as little as six months in oak, but most wines made for aging spend at least a year or more in oak barrels.
Gerry Dawes
Posts: 97 | Location: Suffern, NY USA | Registered: 23 March 2002
- rent or buy a cell phone from me for your stay in spain, more info at 
- already have a cell phone, get a spanish SIM card for it at 
