Dinner with a Rioja classic and Priorat up-and-comer: Lopez de Heredia, Buil & Gine at Orson

Boy was I looking forward to this. On Wednesday night, K&L, along with a few people from one of our distributors, Winewise, their Spanish importer and the good folks at Orson, hosted a dinner with what are undoubtedly some of the world's most distinctive, elegant and age-worthy wines. Of course I am talking about the wines of Haro's own Lopez de Heredia. Standing in marked contrast were the evening's other featured wines from Buil & Gine in Priorat/Montsant - big, bold and fruity, yet still not at all overly ripe. A similarly remarkable contrast was Maria Jose's beautifully told anecdotes about the 100+ year old history of Lopez de Heredia, her succinct summary of what the wines are about, and the reactions they elicit in tasters, compared to Xavi Buil's friendly, low-key explanation of his relatively new wine ventures in Priorat, Montsant and Toro. There was even some friendly joking between Maria Jose and Xavi, about the differences between their wines and respective regions. Later I would learn that the two of them have travelled together before, are good friends, and enjoy presenting their wines together to provide a unique side-by-side comparison to anyone interested in learning about Spanish wine. The menu:

Chicory salad, apple hazelnut, lengua
1.) 1981 Lopez de Heredia 'Vina Tondonia' Blanco Gran Reserva Rioja
2.) 1997 Lopez de Heredia 'Vina Tondonia' Rosado Crianza
3.) 2006 Buil & Gine Rosat Priorat

Yeah, so basically we decided to flash the wine of the night during the first course! Of course that would be the '81 LdH Blanco Gran Reserva. As any of you who have had this wine know, words truly fall short. It is a beautiful, deep golden color, with deeply pitched stone fruit and orange aromas that become increasingly complex with air. On the palate, there is so much nuance and texture. A wine that doesn't blow you away at first sip, it just demands your attention throughout the experience. Silent, insistent, and ready to school you on what wine is all about. The delicate flavors and silky texture combined well with the velvety, fatty lengua, as well as with the hazlenut in the salad - a tiny but inspired detail as LdH whites often times have a nuttiness to the finish that goes well with - you guessed it - nuts. The julienned apples and chicories were light, bright and crunchy, a perfect contrast to the more decadent texture and flavors of nuts, lengua and Tondonia. You better believe that I made sure to save a bit of '81 Tondonia to re-visit later in the evening, and of course it only got better - at its most vibrant and youthful at the end of the evening. Unfortunately, as distinctive a wine as the '97 Rosado is, it was inevitably overshadowed by the white. It continues to improve each time I have it though, with more open-knit red and Sicilian orange fruit to match the beautiful, coconut inflected nose. the '06 Buil & Gine Rosado was a deep pink; there is gamay somewhere in the world with a lighter color than this wine. Fresh, fruity and simple, it is a bit of a fruitier rose than I usually prefer, but still would hold much appeal for many folks.

steak frites bordelaise with greens
4.) 1985 Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Gran Reserva
5.) 2004 Buil & Gine 'Baboix' Montsant
6.) 2001 Buil & Gine 'Baboix' Montsant

Let's start with the food. I love steak, I love potatoes fried in the french style, and I devour all types of greens. So for me, this dish was a winner! It demonstrates what Orson does best: simple, fresh food, prepared from terrific ingredients that are not overly complicated by fancy sauces, cute presentations, or methods which effect chemical changes. As for the wines, on this particular evening I think that the Montsant wines, especially the '01, took the prize over Xavi's Priorat. The '04 Baboix has lots of dark fruit and tannic grip on the finish. It's bold and a bit monolithic now, but should mellow and drink nicely after another 3 years, at least if the '01 Baboix is any indication. I love the flavors that maturing, carignan based wines take on with some age, berryful while preserving a sort of spicy freshness. This wine matched well with the beef, but would have been even more ideal with something a bit more assertive like lamb with lots of herbs and garlic. In introducing her '85 Tondonia Gran Reserva, Maria Jose reminded attendees that Tempranillo is, in her words, 'the flavor of Spain.' I would agree. She also mentioned that the tempranillo grape is thought to be Pinot Noir that was first introduced by monks along the route of the St James pilgrammage across the northern portions of Spain. It was fun to hear about how the French taught her great-grandfather how to make great wine, a tale of cooperation between the French and Spanish that is oft-repeated in other Rioja bodegas histories, as the Bordelais vignerons sought to continue their work in the late 19th century, even as phylloxera was destroying their vines. Back to the '85 Tondonia...the wine is very similar to a mature red burgundy, just as Maria Jose mentioned. I remember really liking it, though that's about the amount of detail I can go into - there was little time to focus on this wine since I had pouring responsibilities, as well as the requisite 'shop talk' with a customer at my table. I really lucked out with my table by the way - Maria Jose, as well as two couples who were both really nice and excited to learn about the wonderful wines in front of us.

Cheese plate: Fiore Sardo and Pepato
7.) 1976 Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Gran Reserva
8.) 1981 Lopez de Heredia Vina Bosconia Gran Reserva
9.) 2001 Buil & Gine 'Joan Gine Gine' Priorat

As I mentioned before, I preferred the Montsant wines to this Priorat, which seemed to be showing a bit of an acetate character on the nose. It was unfortunately not the best bottle, as I have enjoyed this wine on a separate occasion a few months ago. The '76 Tondonia was very sturdy, meaty, dark fruited and more Bordelaise in character than any other LdH wine I have had to date. Probably a reflection of the hot vintage. Still a terrific wine, just a little bit lower in acid than usual, and probably my least favorite of Maria Jose's wine this evening. Of course that is a relative statement, it would most likely be my WOTN compared with virtually any other wines on any other evening. '81 Bosconia has a higher percentage of Tempranillo than the Tondonia, and it is still a bright, slightly taut, lively, spicy wine that I'd love to try in another decade. Apologies again for the short tasting notes, I was working and did not have the time to formulate, either in my head or on paper, more specific thoughts. Not to mention the fact that Lopez de Heredia wines typically defy description.

Some thank you's are definitely in order:

To Chef de Cuisine Ryan Farr, Executive Chef Elizabeth Falkner and the staff at Orson for doing one of the best jobs, soup to nuts, I have ever seen at an event such as this.

To Hiram Simon for partnering with us and giving us the opportunity to promote these wines to our customers

To Bryan Brick, for having the cojones to put together a dinner that doesn't involve Bordeaux and doing a great job seeing it through

To Maria Jose Lopez de Heredia and Xavi Buil for travelling such a long way to promote their wines and meet with people day in, day out during their US tour (trust me, it's not easy)

Finally, to all the customers who spent an evening with us and continue to support us, as well as what Maria Jose, Xavi and many others like them do for a living.

French Reductive Redux: A re-tasting of two 2006 vintage French wines

Both of these were originally tasted last October. One grown in granitic soil, the other in flinty soil. Both from very good producers. One wine is gamay from Touraine, while the other is syrah from the northern Rhone. While both wines I liked upon first tasting them, they had two common problems: sulphur, and a recent voyage across the Atlantic. On the palate they tasted fresh, subtle, and held great promise (if more than a bit disjointed), though the nose on each was a little, well, poopy. Have they come around?

2006 Domaine la Grange Tiphaine 'Les Cassieres'
An overwhelming manuric sensibility is still dominating the pretty raspberry fruit on the nose. Thankfully, there is a bit more to like on the palate. It's all red berry fruit, though tight still, and needing some more time to unfurl its gamay glory.

2006 Vincent Paris Cornas 'Granit 30'
This right here is proof of the powers, the beautiful, floral, transparent, delicate, airy, intoxicating powers, of northern rhone syrah done right. Pure blueberry and wild mixed berry fruit, with excellent minerality, concentration, length and balanced acidity. There seems to be more fruit and less of the white pepper/indian spice combo I recall from last tasting this wine. Nonetheless, the wine is delicious. Anyone who enjoys French wine should love this.

Some notes on several Spanish wines...and prep for a trip to SPAIN!

Those of you who have suffered through OWOS for a while know that Spanish wines are some of my favorites. Having lived in Sevilla, and having travelled through parts of Spain for the better part of a year, Spain will always hold a special place in my heart. Spain is more than partially responsible for my love of beaches, jamon/chorizo/salchichon, late dinners, adventures on trains and buses, and to sum up, instilling in me a real sense of joie de vivre. So to return to a country and people who provided me with so much, to once again spend time somewhere that dramatically added dimension to and shaped my early adult years, obviously means a lot. Since I hardly experienced any wine stuff the first time around (the one exception being a tour of a sherry bodega in Jerez), I type in anticipation of an educational, thorough, and fun independent tour throughout Ribera del Duero, Rias Baixas, Ribeira Sacra, Rioja and Penedes. There is a lot of planning to do; there will be no cattle call Spanish wine bus tour for me (at least not this time around). Ooh, the anticipation....

So expect lots of Spanish content in the upcoming weeks. Tonight, I've got a few tasting notes for recently tasted Spanish wines. Later in the week, I'll report back on a wine dinner we are doing with Maria Jose Lopez de Heredia from the incomparable Rioja estate, Lopez de Heredia, and Xavi Buil from Buil & Gine in Priorat.

Vizcarra Ribera del Duero Roble 2006
Dark cherry and plum aromas, skins and all. With a hint of licorice and more dark fruits on the palate, still tasting fresh and not overly oaked or otherwise processed, this is tasty joven Ribera and all you can ask for in a young, fruity Tempranillo.

Marques de Murrieta Rioja Reserva 2004
Strong coconut and black cherry on the nose lead to a fairly high toned, juicy black cherry palate, with hints of nutmeg as well. Traditional style, slightly updated for modern times.

Can Rafols del Caus Gran Reserva 2002
Interesting stuff, this. 50% cab franc, 20% merlot, 20% cabernet sauvignon. It smells like a mature claret, with green pepercorn, cherry, and some terrific interplay between sweetness and savor, earth and brightness, fruit and herbs. This winery is clearly making some distinctive, elegant wines that will please folks with old world sensibilities when it comes to their wine. They do a few other reds (including a Pinot Noir), and several whites: a Chenin, an oddball from the hybrid incrozio manzoni grape, and a fresh Penedes style white blend. Most of the wines are aged for at least 42 months in bottle prior to release.

Montlouis is the spot. Some DRY chenin from Le Rocher des Violettes

I tasted some terrific wines from Le Rocher des Violettes, a domaine run by a young French dude name Xavier Weisskopf, who obviously is making some terrific Chenin based wines. Three years ago he bought 22 acres in Montlouis and a 15th century stone cellar in Amboise.

Le Rocher des Violettes Petillant 2006
Very mineral nose, with a bit of spicy Montlouis Maror (that's horseradish for the gentiles) on the nose, along with persimmon, leading to a dry, poised, crisp palate, with bitter orange and kumquat flavors.

Le Rocher des Violette Touche Mitaine Sec 2006
This wine is from Xavier's youngest parcel of Chenin. Flavors reflect pure, powerful citrus fruits - very clean. Lime zest. This is some dry, citric Chenin. What it lacks in typical Montlouis Chenin density and weight it more than makes up for in its unique, crispy, pristine flavors.

Le Rocher des Violettes Cuvee La Negrette Sec 2006
Another crisp, eye popping, brisk Chenin. Just barely under-ripe pear flavors on the palate, with less intensity and even a lighter frame than the Touche Mitaine. Fresh and fun. I don't see it aging very long, but over the next few years it should be tasty.

Anthony B - Raid the Barn

I'm off to plant the corn. Well, actually till the soil with compost. Planting within a few weeks. Enjoy the live Anthony B from Reggae on the River.

Sella Costa delle Sesia Orbello 2004

I was really excited to try this blend of Barbera, Nebbiolo, Cab Franc and Vespolina. But I'll be damned if this wasn't just like a simple garnacha from Campo de Borja. Minus a few degrees of alcohol and plus a little acidity. It had that similarly bright, almost candied red fruit aspect and a whole lot of nuthin' much else. Sella is of course best known for their Lessona DOCG wines (Lessona, located in northern Piemonte, known for the most Burgundian expressions of Nebbiolo). I still look forward to trying the '01 Sella Lessona, but the 'baby'lessona (granted it's not all nebbiolo and maybe 'baby' is not the right terminology, plus it's a stupid term when comparing wines, it's already out of my usage, beginning now) did not impress. I feel like I could get any number of $15 reds from Spain, Italy, or France that have more going on than the Sella - and it cost $17.99. I have a feeling that mine is the minority opinion here, though, as a lot of people like this wine. Chime in with your thoughts if you've had this wine recently.

El-P, Cat Power, and Domenico Almondo

They're all in the house right about now. I am listening to 'Poisonville Kids No Wines' (featuring Cat Power) from El Producto's latest opus, I'll sleep when you're dead. The track reminds me of something off Co Flow's Funcrusher: the horn bursts, the trailing off and then sudden crescendo of the beat, and the immediate impact of the composition. Yes, THIS ONE IS A BANGER. One noteable difference would be that El P's production is certainly more layered, nuanced, and avante garde now than it was in 1996. On I'll sleep when you're dead, songs aren't as challenging, not as much about sheer noise as in other El P work in the past five or so years. They have better dynamics, more varied structures, and a real sense of direction. Though I bought the album on i-tunes, there is a digital booklet with photo's, song lyrics and thank you's. Why haven't I seen more of these on itunes? El-P is an innovative and talented artist, as well as a successful businessman, talent scout, nurturer of talent, and overall type A dude doing lots of good for many people. Thanks, and keep up the good work, El-P.

As for the vinous imbibement to match such powerful music, I'm sipping some 2006 Giovanni Almondo Bricco delle Ciliegie Roero Arneis. It's the richer, more intense, bigger brother to Almondo's other arneis that was my favorite in an arneis showdown several months ago. Pure granny smith apples, a talcum powder like minerality, purity and intensity make this one tasty white. It cuts through El-P's dense production real nicely.