Month: Mar 2017

Las 30 del Cuadrado 2015

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This is not an easy wine to get hold of by any means, so it was a small thrill to see it on the wine list at Surtopia, still for me Madrid’s supreme temple to all things Sanlucar.

The only other time I had tried it before it was still a prototype just over a year ago, and that time in the bottle has really helped it come along.  Almonds and sweet herbs on the nose and the dry/sweet flavours of almond and herbs on the palate too. Mineral and saline with those tasty mountain herbs and a fresh finish. After a little while open the aromatics and flavours grow a little more intense and become almost stewy.

A really nice balance of subtle fruit and savoury. I can’t help seeing these wines as evidence in the argument about the qualities of palomino and its ability to make quality white wine. This one certainly shows that it can.

 

El Colectivo Decantado

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Colectivo Decantado

High time I dedicated a few words to my good mate the Decanted Collective, one of the most dedicated and amusing drinkers of the good stuff on the Madrid (and Brussels) wine scene. His greatest works are his video “instacatas” (“instatastings”) in which he launches an array of wine and pop culture knowledge at his audience from behind a big glass of well chosen wine. They are pretty funny and if you reckon you can speak Spanish  you should have a look (unless you are “winelover” or a “jipster”, in which case you might want to save yourself the aggravation).

This week it was Fino Imperial (and Ninja Turtles) but I recommend looking back at all of them – some really good wines and some half decent jokes on display, including the following sherries (aka katanas) and other wines you may have read about on here:

Your man knows his onions – last year he and Jimmy Bubbles (who co stars in some instacatas) picked up a big cheque at the Vila Viniteca cata por parejas – and clearly enjoys the occasional dip into the wines from El Marco. Colectivo Decantado, we salute you!

 

CGWF17: Part 6 – Bodega de Forlong 80/20

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More shocking blogging here – thought I had saved it as a draft and in fact it has been posted for the last two days with nary a word of explanation. I might just bluff it out and claim it was a trailer – might work.

Anyway this is a wine I have been after for a while and was really happy to finally catch up with. Forlong is a class operation down in Puerto de Santa Maria, making table wines with classic local varieties: palomino,  pedro ximenez and tintilla (and some wild cards like a Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé). The name of this one is clearly a reference to the famous Pareto ratio and means that they make 80% of their sales to just 20 really keen bloggers. Alternatively, it could refer to the fact that this wine is 80% palomino and 20%, er, more palomino, from a different pago.

More to the point, although it is 80% palomino and 20% palomino, this has had some contact with the skins of the pedro ximenez, which have been macerated in the wine and give it a rich aroma, buzz and volume – almost tannic. As you can see above it has a deeper colour than you might expect (did I try a rosé before? can’t remember). Then the aromas are of honeysuckle, citrus and salty chalk and the flavours aren’t far away from there, before a long, intense finish.

Really liked this one – as tasty as it is inventive.

 

CGWF17: Part 5 – Cota 45

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Pretty shambolic blogging effort here – note how I cut one of the four bottles out of the picture. The Pandorga 2015, no less.

To be honest though I was most interested in the new UBE Maína 2016. The original UBE, the exceptional unfortified 100% palomino (the 2014 pictured in the centre above)  is from Miraflores, probably the most reknowned of the pagos influenced by the Atlantic. This wine, which will only have had a few months in the barrel and has a good way to go yet, is from Maína, probably the most reknowned of the river influenced Sanlucar pagos. Really interesting to try them together.

Although the Miraflores is vertical and fresh for me one of its strengths is how aromatic it is – particularly after a little while open – and the potent little bomb of sapidity. Compact and refined but full of almost savoury flavour.

By comparison the Maína seems heavier (but has only had a few months in the barrel after all) and has a lot more structure and upfront power – whereas the Miraflores slips in this seems to kick the door down. Bags of flavour there too – this has the potential to be a quality wine alright.

And after that it would have been rude not to try the Encrucijado 14 that was available, and if I thought it was elegant and defined before, after the young Maina it was positively silky (to be fair it has had a few months under flor).

Fantastic stuff – going to be a long wait for the UBE Maína 2016 but looks like being worth it.

CGWF17: Part 4 – the Barajuelas 

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I have written about these wines before but would never miss the opportunity to have another dig, so when I heard the capsule coming off from across the room – even early doors – my feet seemed to move by themselves.

First the Fino 2013, a wine with a massive range from low to high, with a yeasty fruity nose, big intense concentrated fruit, sharp, deep salinity and a crisp finish. A fruit full fino, or a superpotent white wine with added mineral kick. Absolute belter whatever you call it.

Second, the as yet unreleased Oloroso 2013 – here the minerals are turned down a touch but if the fino was full bodied this is immense. That oxidation is still getting to grips with the wine – not caramel juice here just concentrated fruit with a bit of burn to it. Above all there is an impression of solidity about this wine. Love it and hope it will be released soon.

Not a bad breakfast by any standards. 

CGWF17: Part 3 – Cakes and cream in the afternoon 

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The second cata at the Cuatrogatos Wine Fest, lead by the man himself, Federico Ferrer, was short and sweet. At least it was for me: short because I overdid the siesta and rocked up an hour late, and sweet because, well, the wines were sweet, as were the little crumbly pastries we swigged them down with.

The sweet stuff isn’t really my bag but these were not your bog standard sweet sherries by any measure.

  • Moscatel Oro “Los Cuartillos” (Primitivo Collantes) was a really cracking start – citrus rich and lush but with nice acidity and a bit of mineral bite, muscle. Nice bit of freshness to it too.
  • Pandorga 2014 (Cota 45) is another favourite – a 100% pedro ximenez that is not as other PXs: sweet, tasty with apricot richness but with nice acidity, like a late harvest riesling.  Top class.
  • Golpe Maestro (Federico Ferrer) – the only wine of the lineup I hadn’t tried and a fascinating beast. A late harvest, sun dried palomino that has been two years in half full barrels. Unlike anything I have tried before – has a curious, herbal sweetness and a funky green bitterness (like bitter salad) to it. Really reminds me of the spicey peppery edge to some manzanillas, but more concentrated and with residual sugar. Need more time alone with this if I can get a bottle.
  • Piñero Cream (Juan Piñero) is a 20 year old 75% oloroso, 25% old pedro ximenez blend, with a nutty, woody, slightly bitter, acidic oloroso to balance the raisins of the PX. A tough ask in this company: next to the younger varietals it comes across as slightly less fruitful, elegant and natural
  • Pandorga 2015 (Cota 45) is something else altogether. Ramiro Ibañez at Cota 45 believes in expressing the vintage so in a hot year he harvested even later and left the grapes longer in the sun. Added to the fermentation at high ambient temperatures what you get is a nectar with a staggering amount of sugar and only five degrees of alcohol (so low he can’t call it “wine”). All that sugar is balanced with a lovely acidity and intense apricot flavour and the stuff is far, far too easy to drink. No spitting this  one!

(This is where I think I am obliged to make some kind of witty remark about the kind of sherry your grandma drinks or something but I can’t be bothered.)