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More Spanish Table Wines
The Lay of the
Land...Backgrounder on Spain's Wine Regions
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- SEGURA VIUDAS
CREU de LAVIT
 The large sparkling wine producer Segura Viudas is now sending some table
wines to the West Coast. We purchased some bottles of their various wines and
were delighted to find such a stylish and flavorful wine amongst the
group.
It's a dry white wine made of Xarel-lo, one of the varieties used to make their sparkling
wine. You'll find this to be a very complex wine, having been subjected to some skin
contact, barrel-fermentation in American oak and then aged on the lees for six months to
pick up additional toasty notes. The fruit reminds me of pears with a hint of
citrus. Then there's the hint of toasty oak and vanillin notes. Dry. Of course.
A remarkable wine and a refreshing change from drinking Chardonnay every time wine
appears on the dinner table!
Good luck on remembering the name. Creu de Lavit.
- Currently in stock : 2005 Creu de Lavit
Xarel-lo Special Order Item About $16 a bottle
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CLOS DE L'OBAC
- This outstanding little winery is located in the village of
Gratallops in the Priorato region of eastern Spain. This is amazingly rugged country
and you have to be crazy to want to spend your life making wine here. The
mountainous terrain is steep and the vineyards are typically terraced. The rocky
soil means the vines really have to struggle to exist and they produce small quantities of
fruit, if you're lucky.
Owned by the Pastrana family, they've got some 50 hectares
planted at the present time. These are about a thousand feet above sea level.
When we first visited some years ago, they had but 14 hectares!
The winery is called Costers del Siurana and they make a few different
wines, including a sweet red of Garnacha, Cabernet & Syrah! But
the famous red wine is called Clos de L'Obac, a blend of Garnacha, Cabernet
Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot and Cariena.
The 2004 is a huge wine...deep and dark in color...lots of black fruit
aromas with some spice tones on the palate. It's one of those wines
which will certainly appeal to those measuring it on a numerical
wine-tasting score-card. We had a bottle with a prime rib dinner and
the wine showed marvelously. It's nice now, but we suspect it needs a
few years to really blossom and come together.
While they do
fine with egg whites, Clos de L'Obac is bottled unfiltered. New barrels are the
rule, being of Limousin, Allier and Nevers oak.
- Currently available:
- 1994 Clos de L'Obac $49.99
2004 Clos de L'Obac $76.99
MAS MARTINET
 A neighboring winery to Clos de L'Obac,
Clos Martinet is a 6 hectare estate. It's owned by Jos Luis Prez, who also was
involved, apparently, with Carlos Pastrana at
Clos de L'Obac at one time. The planting of Cabernet and Syrah is, apparently, a
relatively recent issue, as they started this sometime during the 1980s.
Today Prez is assisted by his daughter Sara, who's an enologist (and
philosopher!).
Prez makes two
wines, the Clos Martinet being the best of their production and amounting to 40% of the
output. That wine is about 35% Garnatxa (as the Catalonians write it), 35% Cabernet
Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and 15% Syrah.
The little brother red vino is called Martinet Bru and this
has less Garnatxa and Syrah and a bit more Cabernet and Merlot.
The Clos Martinet is a big, deep wine and the 2004 vintage is one of the best.
It's more elegant and refined, showing 'finesse', which is unusual for the
powerful Priorat wines. It's quite lovely now, having sweet oak notes
(all new French barrels were used to mature this wine) and it should cellar
nicely for a decade.
Currently available:
Clos Martinet 2004 Priorat SALE
$79.99
- CLOS MOGADOR
- This property is owned by the large firm of Rene
Barbier. The vineyards from where this comes are in Gratallops, near Clos de
L'Obac. It is a lavishly oaked red wine, typical of these showpieces from this
incredible area of Spain.
Garnacha is the base of this wine, augmented with a substantial contribution from Cabernet
Sauvignon and a bit of Syrah. Very nice, modern and, to my taste, an
improvement over wines made in the early 1990s.
The 2002 is not as massive as the 2001, but it's still quite good. I
suspect this will arrive at its peak before the 2001, as well. It's
nicely oaked and gets a high "score" from Spain's top wine
guide...
The 2003 is a big, deep wine. I tasted it once, shortly after its
arrival and the wine was good, but not quite "together."
I'll have to have another taste to see if it has bounced back from its
travels from Spain. Other's tasting notes I've read have been
encouraging, though.
- Currently available: 2002 Clos Mogador
Priorat (List $82) SALE
$71.99
2003 CLOS MOGADOR $89.99
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CVNE or "CUNE" if you prefer
 The abbreviation stands for "Compaa Vincola de
Espaa," this is another old Rioja winery. It's a very old and
traditional property, having been founded in 1879. They
own some 1200 acres of vines, which accounts for about half their production.
They also own an estate called "Contino" from which they make
estate-bottled,
single-vineyard wines of the same name.
The style of the wines is rather traditional and given the taste preferences
of today's wine critics, the CUNE wines tend to be somewhat
unheralded. They are not deep in color, hugely alcoholic, massive red
wines, so using the measuring stick of a hundred point scale, the wines
merit good to very good scores, but rarely are they weighing in as
"exceptional."
On the other hand, if you're looking for an impressive wine to serve with
grilled meats or a roast of beef or lamb, you might treat yourself to the
2000 vintage of CUNE's "Imperial." I found this wine
to be most impressive. It's Tempranillo, of course, with about 10% of
Graciano and 5% Mazuelo. Nice oak this vintage...cedary, woodsy,
toasty and a hint of vanillin. The wine is quite drinkable now and
should be good for another 5-12 years.
- Currently available:
Imperial Reserva 2000 $47.99
- Available by special order.
Rosado $9.99
Monopole Blanco $15.99
Imperial Reserva 2000 $42.99
Imperial Gran Reserva 1996 $59.99
Via Real 2004 Crianza $16.99
Via Real 2000 Reserva $29.99
Via Real 1996 Gran Reserva $46.99
Contino 2000 Reserva $39.99
Contino 1996 Gran Reserva $59.99
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- BODEGAS FAUSTINO MARTINEZ
Their wines are rather "standard" in quality and the current
line-up is okay. I did not taste anything spectacular, but we can, of
course, order their wines with ease.
Another "old time" producer of Rioja wines, Faustino
is located in the town of Oyon. Their wines come in dark, frosted bottles and are
certainly distinctive. Happily, the wines are pretty nice. The have a curious
numbering system for their wines: FAUSTINO VII is for their modestly-priced, normal
quality.
Their wines are rather "standard" in quality and the current
line-up is okay. I did not taste anything spectacular, but we can, of
course, order their wines with ease.
Another "old time" producer of Rioja wines, Faustino
is located in the town of Oyon. Their wines come in dark, frosted bottles and are
certainly distinctive. Happily, the wines are pretty nice. The have a curious
numbering system for their wines: FAUSTINO VII is for their modestly-priced, normal
quality.
Their wines are rather "standard" in quality and the current
line-up is okay. I did not taste anything spectacular, but we can, of
course, order their wines with ease.
Currently available: By Special Order
Faustino VII (Crianza)
Faustino I (Gran Reserva)
Faustino V (Reserva)
Faustino Rosado
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