This couple of Riberas was put forward for our opinion at the BSS last Friday. Keep an eye on the crianza. This was just short of a blind tasting, as we had never seen the labels in our lives. A local oenologist was with us. He shared our reactions too. The winery is called Viña Mambrilla, as unpromising a name as ever was bestowed upon a commercial venture, if you ask me.
Alidis Roble 2000
Muted aromas hardly identifiable as R.del D. eventually open up and reveal a decent bit of fruit but nothing convincing enough for a Roble 2000. May need more bottle, though. The palate is what is absolutely weird: almost citrusy acidity kills any hope of this becoming a decent wine in the near future, and the fruit won't wait for that acidity to integrate. Our guest-oenologist suggested the acidity might have been "rectified". Frankly poor.
Alidis Crianza 1999
OK, this is another planet. With a little wrist exercise a frank core of plummy and black berry fruit emerges and stays there, gaining breadth and intensity as the night falls. Mineral notes (that Riberesque "stationery" element of lead pencil and ink), turf and mocha add to a pretty convincing Crianza landscape that made us retry twice before sharing with the others about this little secret. Highly recommended, though it may not be cheaper enough to be worth ordering by the BSS (should retail for 12-15 €?) 88-89+
I had taken a peep into their web, but if that's cellar-door, I think I'm sadly accurate. The problem is twofold because no self-respecting Ribera Crianza will be sold for under 10€ retail, and Tenerife is not a 15 km. ride away from Burgos... so I bet this afternoon the BSS will have the prospective prices for the Crianza and 12€ is the minimum reasonable price, I guesstimate...OTOH I'd love to be wrong! Give the Crianza a try if you see it
btw - I cracked my second bottle of Casa de la Ermita 2000 last Saturday. Veeeeeeeery nice, lush and juicy stuff! And a fantastic QPR too! How come all the people here are raving about Hecula? The Casa de la Ermita beats it for lengths!
I got myself another last week, too. Just 8,79€ at...Club del Gourmet in El Corte Inglés (see to believe!), even cheaper than the guys who distribute/retail it After my last bottle was corked I was sort of put off for a while, but it's still around and it'd be a shame to let it pass. Another 9€ won't kill even me. The funny thing is that the bottle is so robust and the label so sober that one of the shop assistants didn't even want to pick the bottle for fear it'd be ultraexpensive (lest she'd break it) and I had to assure her she could smash a whole case and a half and still it'd be better than drop the Astralis (this one very judiciously protected behind a glass panel).
I know you ´r speaking about the Ribera del Duero wines, I am half spanish, half north-american, but the spanish half is much more heavy and from this side I am glad I can read here in these forums diferent topics and opinions than the Rioja wines,. But, sorry I dont want to disturb your "conversations", I´m writing to say to Marc that I am absollutely agree with you about the Casa de La Ermita crianza 2000 is a very good wine, two days ago I gave to a friend of mine, (he is dutch, but he lives in France making his own wine in a Chateau in the Maresque, near Gaillac) some bottles of C de la Ermita, two crianzas from 1999 and from 2000, he knows spanish wines but the only wine he knows from Jumilla DO, is the "Carchelo" from Agapito Rico (also a good wine), well he drunk the crianzas and he was very fun about. I think these crianza 2000 making from the grapes of the "El Carche" valley is a perfect wine to describe the "goods" of Jumilla, and forget a little bite the bad fame of strong, dark... "grosero" y "peleon" wines. I will like to know if somebody tried the rose of c.Ermita, I am not a fun of rose wine, well like most of the people, but for me this is a real excecpttion, I think is one of the most beatyfull syrah wine i had ever taste. Now, sorry again, because I dont know to much about wines as you, I am following Gastronauta and you from I began to read this forum. Otherwise I can learn from all the opinions, and kind of people, or not? Saludos¡¡
Posts: 5 | Location: Italy | Registered: Jan 26, 2003
Please, Sylvana, there's no such thing. I'll avoid the expressions "open forum" as much as I avoid things like "free country" : please feel not just free but also WELCOME to participate with your opinions, likes and dislikes. I wish Marc had seen this before I did (it sounds so much better when typed by a Swiss ). The Syrah Rosé is available here (at least it was) but I felt it would be a little too much for our megaJumilla tasting:
and otherwise I can't be said to drink rosé at all (possibly much to my loss, but I don't miss it anyway...I'm incorregible, I know). The Monasterio de Santa Ana Syrah bottling gave me the impression that the Syrah vines needed a little time before being usable for the top bottlings, so I skipped the rosé like I skipped the Finca Alejandro when Condado de Haza was just a project. Casa de la Ermita is indeed one star to keep track of, and one of the surprises of 2002. Glad to see a Spaniard/American living in Italy but not forgetting about Jumilla
Sylvana Let me say in my and (as he undoubtedly agrees) Gasty's name that we're both delighted to have you joining our "conversations". You combine the very rare and highly appreciated attributes of being a female, european, old world wine interested and knowledgeable wine freak! Please feel free to intervene our nonsense and wine topics any time!
I haven't tried the Rosé of Casa de la Ermita. I practically never drink Rosé unless I'm forced to by evil hosts. The reason is that most Rosés are made for uncomplicated early consumption and they hardly match with any food. I'm however sure that at least a handful of good Rosés exist (as you say the Casa de la Ermita is one of them), but I've never had a convincing one so far.
I'm eagerly looking forward to all old world wine tasting notes, so don't hesitate to share your wine experiences with us.
Hmmm, maybe I should give the Ermita another try also. When you were raving about it last summer I wasn't aware of their different bottlings and was having the unoaked version (with the mega-ugly label!) and that was veeeery subimpressive, 86-87 to me. So can the oaked version really be so much better?
Oh yes, and cheers to Sylvana!
I must have been a root louse in a past life....
Posts: 686 | Location: Vienna, Austria | Registered: Jun 11, 2002
Yep, Phyll, I remember a constant exchange on the different labels and bottlings (Who is this clumsy Austrian who sure can tell blind Steinfeder from Fledermaus but is lost on the merely seven slightly different bottlings of a renowned Spanish red from a region that almost 7% of Spain could approximately place on the map?)
BTW, Marc, I asked for the prospective prices for the Alidis...they buy it at 11€ so would only sell it for over 16€... same old insularity story... when ElCorteInglés has Emilio Moro'99 for 12€
Try to buy them in Tenerife: 29€ for the Villacreces (RP90) and 19€ for the Pago de Carraovejas (NYR). I carried a bottle of the Villacreces all the way from the Spanish mainland before it was available here (& paid 20€ anyway) but haven't tried it yet. Peter Sisseck has a hand in it, rumor has it.
Pago de Carraovejas Cr'99: I've tried it several times since August. The 2000 is out on the shelves already at around 14,-19€. The 99 was one of my TM rants this Xmas, if you remember. I've tried it some 3 or 4 times, even in one of my Ribera tastings:
"After that came my old friend PAGO DE CARRAOVEJAS, distributed by CBC in Tenerife, which I had already tried twice with David at presentation tastings. Here the austerity game ends and the mark of overripeness shows, intentionally placed there to give the folks an idea of both extremes of the Ribera spectrum. Not so boldly touched by overripeness as in previous tastings (I thought), this showed very well with a jammy nose as yet unseen during Sunday (I’m not counting the Emilio Moro). Plums and black cherries perfectly blended with turf and lead pencil in a pleasantly chocolatey, sweetish nose, a mouthful in the palate, full of character but round and increasingly civilized. Very savory and a joy to drink. 90(+)"
Happy (& somewhat pr ud) that my recos are followed: they've incorporated this to their portfolio, and it's now available at the BSS, though the price will be flirting with that of other Rib€ras...
88-89+
