Category Archives: Tasting Notes

Notes on wines I have tasted

June 11, 2012 · 9:03 pm

Ramon Bilbao – 11/06/2012

Mar de Frades Finca Valinas Albarino 2010 (Rias Baixas)
Lovely ripe tropical fruit, apple, floral, some minerality. Textured sharpness, ripe and slightly viscous. Nice balance and approachable fruit. Good character, pleasant drinking and good with food. Need to understand the variety and region better.

Monte Blanco Verdejo 2011 (Rueda)
Riper more candied notes, slightly sweaty in a sauvignon blanc way. Ripe tropical New Zealand sauvignon blanc style of wine, looks almost volatile in its sweaty characters. Good aromatic white wine with ripe approachable fruit, good as an aperitif but lacking in finesse, crispness and minerality. Ditto above.

Ramon Bilbao Crianza 2009 (12 months in barrel, 9 months in bottle)
Fairly bright red fruits and some dusty earth notes, cherry and slightly green strawberries. Tight compact and fruit-driven, fresh and relatively elegant, sweetness of tannin from the American oak, slightly vanilla and caramel. A tad hot in the mouth.

Ramon Bilbao Reserva 2006
More intense focused fruit nose, more oak influence, dark floral notes and some sweet balsamic elements. Light and tight, juicy dark fruit still on the fresh side, good structure and balance, focused tannins, oak not interfering too much, has some more potential.

Ramon Bilbao Gran Reserva 2004
Fruit completely shut down on the nose, oak dominating and not inviting at all. Sweet fruit, almost candied on the palate. Quite juicy and plummy, fairly broad and lacks the focus of the Reserva. Quite simple for a wine of this quality.

Ramon Bilbao Vina Turzaballa Gran Reserva 2001 Rioja
Shy nose, in a trough, starting to show some bottle mature notes, some leather and dusty elements. Better concentration of fruit and more expressive structure, good combination of red and black fruits, plenty of life in the wine yet.

Ramon Bilbao Selecion Limitada 2009 Rioja
Ruby and dark fruit nose, very bold fruit, dense and juicy, very ripe and sweet, extended maceration and newer oak. Bold, very young, international-style Spanish wine, not really Rioja.

Mirto 2006
Lives up to its name, as it smells like myrtle, hazel, vegetative elements. Very intense concentrated fruit, really low yielding very ripe berries, a lot of time in new oak, designed to be left for many years. Stay away, it’s difficult to see where the wine might go in the future.
Ramon Bilbao fermenter

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June 11, 2012 · 8:58 pm

Bodegas Roda – 11/06/2012

Sela 2009 (mainly tempranillo, a little graciano. 12 months in barrel, young vines)
Intense purple colour, but still bright. Blackforest, black cherry, vibrant florals. Juicy juby very soft mellow, some creaminess from the oak. Bright intense sweet red and black fruits, generous smooth tannins and some brightness of acidity. Fairly modern style.

Roda 2007
Darker denser and earthier. Deeper tannins, much more brooding and masculine, textural heavier oak influence. Youthful crunchy tannins, some nut and vanilla notes from the oak and grape tannins, mature and extractive but not heavy, fat or fruit-sweet.

Roda 1 2006 (always 100% tempranillo)
Even darker colour but not too intense and black. Denser darker fruit nose, black olives, dried spices, wild plum. Very deep intense, noticeable influence from the oak, but in an extremely mature and delicate way. Very savoury, not a lot of overt juicy black fruits, all extremely well integrated. Quite grainy rough manly texture, but not aggressive or oppressive and oaky. A wine that will benefit a lot from ageing.

Cirsion 2009 (100% tempranillo, only made in certain years)
The darkest and most intense heavy colour of them all. Sweet coconut chocolate vanilla, black fruits plum and very intense blueberry notes. Very youthful and modern looking, ripeness and concentration are key.

Corimbo 2010 (Ribera del Duero)
Creamy red currant fruits, caramel elements, lovely and intense fruits, quite toasty. Tight tannins, quite juicy and full, fruit intense. Quite warm for the time being, but not ready for release just yet. Prefer the Ribera fruit to the Rioja fruit.

Corimbo 1 2009 (Ribera del Duero)
Dark really bright and juby black fruits on the nose. Blackcurrant juice, super intense. Much heavier tannins and depth, but with a very mellow smooth finish. So young for now, will really benefit from bottle ageing. Full-flavoured generous breadth and depth, bang for buck, powerful example.

Roda tasting

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June 9, 2012 · 5:12 pm

Agusti Torello Mata – 8/06/2012

Xarello 2011
Typical juicy green characters, lime, kiwi, some asparagus. Green tropical notes, very clean and fresh, pure minerality and crispness. Some textural elements. A little extension, but a good aromatic varietal wine.

Subirat Parent 2011
Slightly more closed oily crispness, crisp tight salty texture. Fresh balanced pleasant more subtle notes. Same green fruit notes.

Aptia Macabeu 2011
Slightly more closed, very delicate hints of toast and nut, riper fuller and juicier, more yellow fruits, no green. Very slight creaminess and very soft texture. Some good extension, lingers nicely on the palate.

Agusti Torello Mata Brut Reserva 2008
Clean precise perfectly balanced, great depth and richness, texture creaminess, wonderful apple and lemon notes with the typical cava varietal nature, slightly green herbs. Perfect example of the classic style.

Brut Nature Gran Riserva 2007
More mineral almost like chlorine, very pure precise and clear, amazingly subtle fruit on the nose. Natural cream from the bead and fruit, typical varietal character but more fruit richness and depth.

Gran Reserva Barrica 2007
More complex quitter o the nose, creamy in a very toasty vanilla way, interesting texture, slightly deeper, a much better example than champagnes I have tasted, very fresh and light, only a subtle difference. Not too creamy, better balance and integration.

Kripta 2006
Exquisitely subtle, very elegant, a little richness creamy notes. Creamy delicate yet explosive flavours of brioche, vanilla, creamy wheat, lively fruits still very fresh, very mature citrus and slight carob notes. Almost as complex as trying to store the bottle.

Rosat Trepat 2009
Bright intense fairy floss strawberry creamy, lovely texture and some citrusy crispness. Strawberry desert gives the wine an almost maraschino cherry, cherry liqueuer flavour. Good with deserts.

Kripta

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June 9, 2012 · 4:11 pm

Raventos i Blanc – 7/06/2012

Reserva Brut 2009
Nice fresh familiar cava nose, smoky citrus, creamy nose, wonderfully full and vibrant on the palate yet amazingly well balanced, focused and driven. Some great but unpretentious autolysis notes. SO enjoyable yet unique.

De Nit Rose 2009 (5% monastrell short cold skin contact)
Red citrus notes, quite vibrant and some astringent tannins texture. Bright slightly savoury red berries, not sweet, quite subtle. A very differet rose wine. Not rose but not white either. Interesting combination of tannin and yeast notes.

Elisabet Raventos 2006 (4 years on lees)
Floral vanilla creamy citrus notes. Honeysuckle white lily. Deeper more intense and serious, builds beautifully on the palate, layers of complexity. Very subtle but assured autolysis notes. Still fresh and will benefit from age. A champagne drinkers cava, no doubt.

Silencis Xerello 2011
Very intense fruity nose, grapefruit lychee apricot, freshness persistence, balance, very delicate and approachable, not a particular wine of distinction, but a great crisp fruit driven wine nonetheless. Good phenolics, some subtle viscosity.

Raventos i Blanc Reserva de la Finca Cava

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June 9, 2012 · 3:05 pm

Can Feixes – 7/06/2012

Huguet Gran Riserva Cava Brut Nature 2007 (60% parellada, 20% macabeo, 20% pinot noir)
Lovely tight crisp tropical yellow green notes, some passionfruit, stone fruits, some minerality and very integrated autolysis. Vibrant fresh but exquisitely balanced, reflective of the varieties and region, but really a cut above. Amazingly subtle and long, like a Champagne twist on Cava.

Can Feixas Blanc Seleccio 2011 (Parellada, macabeo, chardonnay, malvasia)
Fresh bright, slightly uriney sauvignon blanc fume stink, again green fruits on the nose. Very full fruit driven fresh vibrant textural volume. Bold stone fruits and some very ripe citrus notes. Pretty intense now, perhaps will settle down in some months. Wonderfully juicy and drinkably refreshing.

Chardonnay 2007 (barrel fermented, new oak – five French coopers)
Very creamy toasty almonds and maize notes, slight toffee aromas, ripe citrus peach notes. Full crunchy bold hot texture, multilayered, very ripe and fruit heavy, oak meshes well with the ripeness of the fruit, thank god there is no malolactic as it would make it far too fat. Well balanced, just too warm a region for the variety, like Sicily.

Negre Tradicio 2007 (merlot, tempranillo, cabernet sauvignon, petit verdot)
Sausage meat, toasty notes, black olives, black fruits. Wonderful acidity and freshness, beautiful balance, bright red and black fruits, fresh plum and cherry notes, Full and generous yet soft and approachable with solid structure and character.

Reserva Especial 2005 (70% cabernet sauvignon, 30% merlot)
Dusty chalky clay notes, slightly smoky meats, full voluptuous, very tight in structure and looking a little youthful/green in texture. Oak looking a little prominent still, lot’s of potential. The structure is all there, the pieces around it just need to fall into line. Slightly warm.

Huguet Gran Riserva Cava 2007

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June 9, 2012 · 2:44 pm

Torreblanca – 7/06/2012

Brut – Xarello, Macabeu, Peredara
Fairly subtle classic cava nose, Very vibrant dark honey, fresh, fresh citrus, not completely unfamiliar, clean fresh, very approachable and drinkable.

Brut nature
Slightly brighter and more vibrant fruit and floral nose. Tighter fresher, broader and denser, full flavoured, bright fresh.

Brut Rosat (garnacha, merlot)
Very dark ruby colour, juicy blackcurrant juice nose, Dark juicy, fresh bold, mellow, not really bright, but pretty juicy and floral. Almost like a slightly savoury sparkling Ribena.

Extra Brut (pinot noir)
A cava expression of pinot noir, bold red berries, nice and yeasty and rich, quite broad and very fruit creamy but very toasty and quite special, different. Elegant, flavours last a long time in the mouth.

Torreblanca cava ageing in the cellar

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June 6, 2012 · 9:51 pm

Dosterras – 6/06/2012

Barrel tasting
“White wine” Dosterras Blanco 2011 (60% pedro ximenez, 20% roussanne, 20% marsanne) – not DO Montsant, not available in the market
Quite green, reductive, sulphured and leesy. Ripe tight fresh tropical citrus notes. Textured deep and mineral notes, a product of sun and soil, warmth and depth, textural.

Old vine Grenache 2011
Vibrant rosy violet floral notes, ripe red fruits and concentrated red soil elements. Ripe red currants, 2.5 g/l RS vibrant soft generous and makes a nice component. But also pretty good on its own. Great earthy complexity, nice firm yet silky texture.

Carignan 2011
Very bright tight and fresh, but completely reductive and shut-down.

Finished wines
Vespres 2010 (grenache, carignan, 10 months second use 300l barrels)
Pretty hard to smell when it is chilled down. Very dark purple colour, quite intense concentrated, vintage? Tight fresh juicy dark red fruits. Nice and full, good balance and generosity of acidity and tannins, no oak characters. Approachable for the wine, is this the Montsant style?

Dosterras 2010 (100% grenache, 16 months new and second use 300l barrels, old vines)
Intense dark sweet black fruit. Extremely plummy, very dense maceration regime, soft sweet dark fruit, very gentle and caressing, not oodles of depth or good concentration.

Finca Aiguasals 2009
Black olive, savoury blackberries, brown earth, chocolate, liquorice, Good structure, texture from the tannins and oak, gets some life somehow from the second passage in barrels where the first use was for white wine. 900 litres in total. A wonderful wine, a cut above the Monsant DO.

Berries!

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June 6, 2012 · 9:24 pm

Celler de Capcanes – 6/06/2012

Mas Donis Rosat 2011 (saignee, 8 days skin contact, 15% free run juice taken, garnacha, cabernet merlot)
Very bright quite dark cherry colour. Dark savoury fruit aromas, slightly spicy. Fresh fruit-driven bright, clean finish. Some fruit sweetness (4g RS/L), red cherry, strawberry, vibrant. Slightly floral notes. Quite simple and inelegant wine, easy to drink.

Mas Picosa 2010 (organic certified, growers handling chemicals hence shift away from, garnacha, carignan, tempranillo)
Dark cherry fruits, quite bold florals, intense but wonderfully fresh, very clean and pure, excellent fruit and acid structure, minimal tannins quite open and mentholly, balanced, juicy and drinkable.

Costers del Gravet 2009 (50% cabernet sauvignon, 30% garnacha, 20% carignan)
Deep ruby aromas, black forest fruits, cassis notes, fairly cabernet dominant on the nose. Tight focused cabernet tannins, leather, stalky, roasted capsicums, juicy dark fruits and plummy sweetness. Quite fresh and vibrant for a cabernet led wine in a climate like this.

Peraj Ha’abib 2010 (kosher wine)
Reductive but very intense nose, quite powerful and sharp, bold and piercing. Quite savoury earthy meaty nose, intense red fruits. Very finely balanced, elegant and long, very full and complete, soft velvety very long and complex, some savoury spice notes and sweet herb notes, bold powerful and youthful, fantastic wine from the vintage. Drinkable now but will evolve quite slowly over the next 10 years. Very very subtle oak characters late on the palate, a little oak sweetness.

The wines and soil profiles they come from in Celler de Capcanes

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June 6, 2012 · 6:57 am

Clos Erasmus – 5/06/2012

Laurel 2010 (75% grenache, 20% syrah, 5% cabernet sauvignon)
Tight bright juicy currants, very intense fruit, youthful, some sweetness and juiciness as well. Fresh, vibrant expressive, quite complex, some very late earthy notes. Wonderful core of acidity keeping things so fresh, intense and yet structured and balanced. You can’t see any oak or alcohol at all, wonderfully integrated.

Clos Erasmus 2010 (85% grenache, 15% syrah)
Has a certain seriousness to it, very quiet and unassuming, not brash or flashy at all. Shy and not expressive, needs to be decanted and allowed to breath for a few hours. Penetrating insights, darkness, depth and intensity. Piercingly complex. Mellow silky yet very full and dense. So well integrated and delicate, perfect expression of delicate touch, sensitive understanding of the terroir and the expressiveness of the wine. Lovely ruby colour, bright inviting and seductive.

Clos Erasmus cellars

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June 6, 2012 · 6:53 am

Buil & Guine – 5/06/2012

Baboix 2008 Montsant (grenache carignan led, some syrah, cabernet, merlot and tempranillo)
Fresh bright red fruits, some raspberry liquorice, slightly fragrant rose petal. Tight lean and fresh, very focused and a little straight. Fresh acids and fruit, brightness and intensity. Clean and relatively balanced. Fairly simple originless fruit-driven fresh approachable style wine of good quality.

Joan Gine 2007 Priorat (grenache, carignan, cabernet sauvignon)
More brooding and intense, earthier, stalkier, still red fruits but very ripe. Pure clean, not at all textured or characterful, fresh vibrant, good fruit, clean and approachable, but far from earth-shattering. Somehow an empty wine, still very drinkable for most of the market.

Pleret 2005 Priorat (old vines, grenache, carignan, merlot cabernet sauvignon, syrah)
More closed, slightly shut down aromatically, very dense earthy mineralic. Bold yet soft, juicy balanced, starting to show some maturity and bottle aged notes of some leather and chocolate. Nice perfume, full and bold, yet soft on the finish. Very good, but am I expecting too much now? Showing some roasted capsicum notes.

Pleret Blanc Dolc (sweet) 2010
Good clarity finesse and minerality. Very vibrant and fruity with a very interesting floral core, some texture and weight, full and bold sweet wine. Nice stone fruit and ripe citrus notes. Clean and fresh, not too cloying or sticky, very adaptable to many types of dessert.

The Buil & Guine winery in the background

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