I gotta tell you that I am getting really excited. Some friends are hosting a Spanish wine tasting in a couple of weeks, so the wife and I have been hunting for some wines to taste on our own before we choose what to bring. I have some experience, but not a lot, with Spanish wines and know that I like those from Rioja and mainly containing the tempranillo grape variety. There are many regions and sub-regions throughout the country, but the most popular include Rioja, Cava, Penedes, Ribera del Douro, La Mancha, Priorat and maybe Rias Baixas. The wife and I have had wines from Jumilla and Toro that have been very good as well.
The first two we tasted the other night were wines made mostly from the Garnacha (Grenache) varietal with the following results:
2007 Barsao Tres Picos Garnacha (Campos de Borja)- 100% Garnacha (Grenache)
Nose: Hot, which is generally expected from Grenache, but not much else at first. After 10-15 minutes in the glass, I began to get some vanilla notes as well… very nice.
Taste: Tart cherries, red berries and charcoal finish
2006 La Conreria (Priorat) – Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and Cariñena (same as Carignane)
Nose: Pungent, armpits, and kind of like hard-boiled egg that was just peeled. Was there something wrong with this wine? I thought for a moment we had a bad bottle of wine, but it wasn’t the normal vinegary smell you’d expect from a corked bottle.
Taste: The taste was actually respectable with a good mouthfeel from medium tannins (probably from the Cabernet) and some cranberry.
Upon further research, it is possible the stinker was due to:
1. Fermentation of nitrogen deficient musts, which causes certain enzymes to release sulphurous gas. H2S (hydrogen sulphide) OR
2. Reduction - Wine that has had very little exposure to oxygen can sometimes become reduced, a chemical process. If extreme this can lead to aromas that are often described as “funky”. They can included a roasted, sulfur aroma like a just-struck match, hard-boiled eggs, burnt rubber or rotting vegetation. Mild levels of this wine aroma will often “blow off” as the wine sits in the glass and is exposed to oxygen over 10 to 20 minutes. Decanting the bottle of wine can also help speed this process up. If it is severe, it may be more difficult to reverse.
If anyone reading this can tell me more about this I would be interested. I am hoping that not all of the wine in this batch smells like this and that maybe the off-odors occurred during bottle aging and only our bottle was affected. Overall, it was very tough to drink due to the odor and we poured it out. But, don’t take our word for it, let us know if your bottle was better.
For the party, couples are being assigned specific sub-sets of regions which is cool so we’ll have quite a broad spectrum of Spanish wines to taste. Additionally, I believe there will be Cava sparkling wine as well as a Sherry from Jerez. Will followup with some more postings on these.
Adios!
