Last night 14 hearty souls gathered at Ristorante Fiorentino for the monthly Boston Wine Club meeting before the snows hit the area. That’s right. There is snow on the ground this morning here in Boston. The theme of the evening was Spanish reds and 6 different regions were represented by 11 different wines. All wines were tempranillo or tempranillo blends.

All wines were tasted blind and in 3 flights. Everyone had different glasses ranging from Riedels and Spiegelaus to cheap odd-shaped glasses. However, each individual drank from identical glasses. I drank from inexpensive Bordeaux shaped glasses. All wines were decanted 1-2 hours with the exception of maybe 3 which were opened at the restaurant. The bottle pricing includes any applicable tax and/or shipping costs.

All wines were scored and notes taken before unveiling them.

Flight #1
’98 Pesquera Ribera del Duero Tinto $27
I found funky, earthy nose that did not go away over time. It had a light/med body with some red fruit and strawberry notes. Short finish. This wine was simple and not too impressive. My score: 86

’97 Artadi Vinas de Gain Crianza $25
This had fresh fruit in the nose with hints of cherries and strawberry. Light/med body with cherries and strawberries that mimicked the nose. This is a light, fresh and juicy red with a relatively short finish. My score: 87 (WS 84; Parker 88)

’98 Numanthia $45
Dark purple in color. Hints of oak and black cherry in the very good nose. Rich and concentrated on the palate with plenty of ripe fruit and vanilla. Med/full body with decent tannins but did not notice much acidity. Good finish. It got better over time so I wished I could have gone back to it at the end of the evening but the bottles ran out. My score: 91 (Parker 95) This was the group’s #2 WOTN

’97 Hacienda Monasterio Ribera del Duero $20
This was a medium bodied wine with balanced tannins and acidity. The fruit was lighter on the palate than expected from the nose but still showed good fruit flavors. Strong oak in the nose and on the palate as well as some earthy notes. Decent finish. My score: 89 (WS 90)

Flight #2
’99 Bodegas Y Vinedos Maurodos San Roman Toro $28
Powerful fruit bomb. Good structure and balance of acid, tannins and fruit. Huge amounts of currant, vanilla and oak. Long finish. Overall an absolute blockbuster of a wine. Very tempting to drink now but will undoubtedly improve in the cellar. This was both the group’s and my WOTN. This also was the WOTN in a previous blind tasting. My Score: 94 (WS 93)

’94 Bodegas Muga Torre Muga Reserva $40
This started out with a funky nose but eventually evolved into a nice bouquet with good fruit and vanilla. Nice balance of acid, tannins and fruit. As the wine evolved layers of fruit including black cherry and blackberries started to emerge among the oak. Good finish. We were discussing the possibility of this being one of the wines that wasn’t decanted and sure enough when we unveiled it was indeed one of the wines not decanted. This may have received a higher score if decanted. Just a shade behind the Casa de la Ermita for the group’s #3 WOTN. My score: 90 (WS 90; Parker 94)

’99 Castell del Remei Gotim Bru $10
Not much to this wine. It had decent fruit in the nose but not much on the palate. The body was lighter than expected based on the nose. Strawberry notes. Mild tannins and low acidity. Unremarkable but not necessarily a bad wine, just average. My score: 87

’94 Marques de Caceres $20
Decent fruit and some vanilla in the nose. Medium body. Some oak and berries on the palate. Nothing remarkable about this wine but a shade better than the Gotim Bru. My Score: 89

Flight #3
’99 Abadia Retuerta Seleccion Especial $22
A smooth and elegant wine. Med/full bodied with decent fruit of currants and cherries. Some vanilla. Good overall balance. This is drinking nicely now and not sure how long it would last in the cellar. I was going to score this a 91 but it seemed to fade a little over time in the glass. This had been decanted for 2 hours. My score: 90 (Parker 92)

’99 Mas Igneus Priorat $15
Had dark fruit nose with eventually some vanilla coming through. On the palate plums and raisins shown through with oak. Some gamy notes. Med bodied with soft tannins. This is where my tastes seemed to diverge with the rest of the group. While I enjoyed this wine some of the others didn’t care for it. My score 91.

’00 Casa de la Ermita Jumilla $11
Good nose of dark fruit and vanilla. Plums, raisins and a little chocolate on the palate. While concentrated and full-bodied it had elegance and velvety tannins. Nicely balanced. Great to drink now but might cellar well. This was the group’s #3 WOTN by a hair. My score: 91 (WS 90; Parker 90)

Decanter
Great notes. I had a lot of fun last night and really enjoyed meeting everybody. Although I seemed to have a problem with the Glasses . I can't wait until the December 7 meeting.
Rigga
What brand glass did I knock off the table? I can replace at the December tasting. I'll make sure to bring more of my own glasses for the next event so I will not break any more of yours or decanters

Great notes, Decanter. Thanks for taking the time. Keep your eyes open for the '98 Numanthia

Oh sure, m-driver steals my glasses and emottram breaks my glasses. I'm glad I didn't bring my Riedels

And I bet you didn't even see us comin'
We're quite the dynamic duo, emottram and I.

Great notes, thanks! I have yet to taste the San Romàn 1999 (probably next week at the Expovina in Zurich) and I'm looking forward to compare our TN's.

I wish that I had brought my glasses (left on my counter)!! All of my ratings might have gone up a few points if I was not drinking out of shot glasses with a stem (as they were called last night). I will be sure to remember my glasses Dec. 7th!

Decanter
Wonderfull notes!!!

[ 10-23-2002, 06:37 PM: Message edited by: BrandO ]

Excellent notes Decanter.
Glad to say all of my glasses made it home intact.
Thanks for arranging another well organized tasting. Everyone had a great time. Jodi and I are looking forward to the next one.

VERY interesting, Decanter. I've tried a few and will concur with your TNs quite a bit. A few questions:
Was the Pesquera a Crianza? I hope the Reserva is not as dull as that.
Why Viñas de Gain'97 of all years : clearing out stock? Sure the 99 is already around, while the 98 was RP92 (& Gastro merely 89).
I'll do my best to try the A Retuerta SE99.
Which Mas Igneus 99 is this one? There's a FA206 and a FA112 (depending on whether the Allier oak is 1st or 2nd use and the number of months the wine spends in it). I ask because there's quite a difference in price; and there's an even pricier bottling.
Sorry for the bombing; mighty glad to see Boston flooded with Spanish wine, not just Illinois

gastro,

Funny, I asked those exact questions during the tasting but after we bagged the wines for the blind tasting. By the time we unveiled the wines I totally forgot to double check the wines. The effect of good wine, good people and good conversation I guess. Anyway I'll do my best to answer:

- Based on the price tag I suspect that the Pesquera could have been the Reserva. The Crianza sells for much less around here.

- Why the '97 Vinas de Gain? Wines were brought by several people and I suspect that it was sitting in the person's cellar. Actually, most wines were those that were in people's cellars.

- Rigga brought the ’99 Mas Igneus and told me right before we started pouring that it was neither the Barranc dels Closos nor the FA112. Therefore it could have been the FA206. Rigga, can you verify?

Need not worry. I am trumpeting the virtues of Spanish wines in Boston. Gastro, if you are ever in the area you are more than welcome to join us in another Spanish tasting.

Gastro -

Since I brought the Viñas de Gain'97, I'll answer you. The short answer is because I don't know squat about Spain. There it is, short and sweet.

I pulled a couple WS buying guides, but wasn't able to find any of the bottles listed. The Viñas de Gain'97 was a complete shot in the dark, and that year was all the store had.

To be honest, prior to this tasting, I wasn't at all excited about Spain. However, after the Numanthia '98 and the San Roman Toro, my perception is somewhat changed.

Decanter and Gastro,

The Mas Igneus was the 99' FA206.The top five wines of the night I would happily drink again. However, the balance left me unimpressed. The Casa de la Ermita Jumilla 00' was the QPR of the night and explains why the shelves have been emptied. The Mas Igneus was similar in quality and not a bad backup if I can't find the Casa de la Ermita.

Fiorentino's was wonderful once again.

[ 10-24-2002, 02:21 PM: Message edited by: Rigga ]

I'm just compulsively curious, it's simply that too often I see uneven groups of bottles being compared and then...no wonder some get all the accolades without this being 100% representative.
While WS/WA treat Spain almost like a single wine region (almost no regional diversity in vintage charts, at most Rioja/Ribera), the truth is--as you will imagine--that we happen to have vintage variation here, and this country has a tradition in winemaking back to Roman times but that means ABSOLUTELY nothing when it comes to MODERN wine. Way too many producers are in toddler stage even now, and they improve dramatically every year, weather permitting. Peter Sisseck's HM'97 is a good wine, but merely a charicature of his 99. Mariano García's San Román '99 appears to be even better than the 97 and 98. Numanthia's 98 was its first year... Many of the wines at stake are first to third efforts vs. Marqués de Cáceres, or Pesquera, the latter of which has lagged behind in such an inexplicably sad way...
I could go on: Abadía Retuerta'a 1st release was in 96, Mas Igneus is also relatively young (I'll try these this year, it's finally being distributed now in the Canaries...)...
Uh, I've forgotten how it all began, but it's taking us nowhere useful...
OK, it had to do with my ignoring that this tasting was a BYO, so no preplanned flight arrangement, perhaps (wasn't it VERY detrimental to the Gotim Bru to appear in such company?)... you know, that sort of thing... I spot it easily in other people's tastings, then I go put the foot in myself...the old story...

Gastro,

The "uneven groups" of wine being compared was done on purpose. Even though people brought wine we had a list of them before we decided on the final wines. For the most part, the group had not had much experience with Spanish wines. I wanted to introduce high end, medium and low end wines from various regions to give the group a sampling. With all the different varietals, coutries, regions, styles, red, white, sparking, etc. etc., (you get the picture)wines in the world to try, I'm not sure if we would ever get back to a Spanish tasting. It's tough to give any country justice in just one tasting but if you are given just ONE chance I thought that it would be better to give more of a sampling rather than focus on a single region or style. As it turned out, as people were suggesting wines the list started to be filled out with wines from various regions, styles, prices, etc. by itself so I thought it would be good to leave it alone.

Of course, we could be convinced to have another Spanish tasting if a certain esteemed forum member came to Boston to join us.

Sure, I'll put Boston in my dream-list at Amazon.com......I can't even go to continental Europe for an offline...