Tag Archives: Bibendum

Bibendum Degustacion de Vinos – 3/06/2013

Bibendum as I have said many times, are one of the best importers of wine in Australia. For the first time they hosted a tasting of their entire range of Spanish producers, and some were gracious enough to fly all the way to Australia for the event. Here is a very long list of wines I tasted.

Colet-Navazos Cava Extra Brut 2009
Nice gun flint volcanic notes. Clean pure fresh light, classic but fairly simple and safe.

Navazos I Think Manzanilla
Slightly rich and creamy, toasty and crunchy texture.

Argueso Manzanilla
Pure fresh light, clean and brisk, friendly and appealing.

Argueso Las Medallas Manzanilla
A bit deeper and richer, bolder but still nice and salty, sweeter fruit character.

San Leon Manzanilla
Zingy zesty, so fresh, not what you think of manzanilla.

Angel Rodriguez Martinsancho Verdejo 2011
Fig skin and herb notes. Exquisitely balanced, light but not thin.

Val de Sil Montenovo Blanco 2012
Mid-palate texture saltiness. Bright fruit-driven but savoury.

Val de Sil Godello 2011
Quiet. Bright and fresh, fruit-forward, nice and textural.

Val de Sil Pezas da Portella Godello 2010
Salty volcanic oily nose. Much more elegant and restrained.

Horacio Calvente Pago La Guindalera Blanco 2010
Classic but restrained and dry, fresh musky floral elements.

Mengoba Brezo Blanco 2011
Tight and sharp, very precise, really good but not offering a lot.

Mengoba Blanco Godello Y Dona Blanco Sobre Lias 2010
Nicely developed, slightly wilder and more mineral.

Mengoba Brezo Tinto 2011
Bright juicy floral notes, fresh and juicy but tight and straight.

Mengoba Flor de Brezo 2010
Tighter spicier and leaner, much more savoury.

Mengoba Mencia de Espanillo 2009
Intense tight concentrated, juicy and fairly soft but intense.

Mengoba Mencia de Espanillo 2010
Amazing precision and integration, LENGTH.

Mengoba Estaladina 2010
A little dirtier and wilder, dark and intense.

Domino do Bibei Lapola Blanco 2010
Tight juicy round full friendly.

Domino do Bibei Lapena Blanco 2010
Wilder funkier basalt, intense super godello up to 11.

Domino do Bibei Lalama 2009
Soft juicy full, tight.

Domino do Bibei Lacima 2008
Wild but a little short, lacking something.

Adega Algueira Brandon Blanco 2012
Herbal green fig, very fresh and food friendly.

Adega Algueira Cortezada 2011
Denser and more lifted aromatically, brisk concentrated quince like, high acids.

Adega Algueira Merenzao 2010
Spicy wild earthy, generous yet tight.

Adega AlgueiraCarravel Barrica Mencia 2009
Denser tight, softer and fuller.

Adega Algueira Pizarra 2010
Not seeing it, might need more time.

Quinta Da Muradella Caino Redondo 2009
Too funky and wild, tougher more traditional and rustic.

Quinta Da Muradella Souson 2009
Closed and developed, tight focused acid great.

Exopto Horizonte Blanco 2011
Juicy fruit (musk) sweet, quite different, more Loire style.

Exopto Bozeto de Exopto 2011
Soft bright juicy clean, pleasant character, exceptional value.

Exopto Horizonte de Exopto 2010
Tighter more integrated, much more traditional.

Exopto de Exopto 2009
Deep and soft, juicy reflection of the variety.

Felix Callejo Rosado Vina Pilar 2012
Juicy fresh red fruit sweet.

Felix Callejo Flores de Callejo 2010
Bold juicy dark and intense, fairly straight-forward.

Felix Callejo Crianza 2009
Denser earthier and fuller, quite vintage specific.

Felix Callejo Majuelos de Callejo 2009
Tighter grainier and earthier, very generous.

Felix Callejo Gran Callejo 2006
Intense tight precise and still closed.

Felix Callejo Finca Valdelroble 2008
Stinky reduction, bright wild salty.

Felix Callejo Finca Valdelroble 2009
Juicy hot still very fresh.

Condado de Haza 2009
Very intense dark almost molasses, very soft easy and generous.

El Vinculo Crianza 2006
Extremely traditional, burnt aromatics.

Pesquera Tinto Crianza 2009
Wild earthy savoury, soft concentrated, REAL.

Pesquera Tinto Crianza 2010
Rounder larger fuller, not too different in fact.

Pesquera Reserva 2008
Wild earthy savoury, unbelievably tight.

Dehesa La Granja Tempranillo 2005
Soft bright and generous.

Bodegas Carchello 2011
Quite spicy and approachable.

Terroir Al Limit Torroja Vi de Vila 2011
Light fresh pure lean and clean.

Terroir Al Limit L’Arbossar 2010
Tighter, denser more generous.

Terroir Al Limit Dits del Terra 2010
So elegant but hauntingly complex.

Terroir Al Limit Les Manyes 2010
Beautifully floral yet spicy, intense and tight, extremely long.

Terroir Al Limit Les Tosses 2010
Darker more brooding and more fruit sweetness.

Clos Manyettes Priorat 2007
Punchy and unctuous.

Clos Mogador 2007
Toasty smoky earthy wild terroir wine.

Equipo Navazos No. 31 La Bota de Amontillado
Toasty caramel nose, rich but still dry, wild and feral.

Equipo Navazos No. 37 La Bota de Amontillado
Creamier honeyed spice caramel, salty richer rollier.

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Luciano Sandrone

One of the things I want to write in summarising my trip is to talk about some of the amazing people I met who imparted some of their wisdom and experience in wine and life. I am still in the process of looking back upon my blog archive which is taking me a lot longer than it should. But as it happens one of the people I intended to write about is making his first ever visit to Australia and I was lucky enough to be invited to a masterclass showing his wines here in Melbourne by the importer Bibendum Wines. This man is Luciano Sandrone, and after introducing him I will talk about why he had such an effect upon me.

Luciano Sandrone and myself when I visited in April 2012

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Luciano Sandrone – 4/3/2013

Dolcetto d’Alba 2011
Lovely and floral, brambly pomegranate, spicy sweet green pepper. Bright clear and fresh, wonderful acidity, nice tight clean finish, structure very fine but full of flavour without being simple.

Barbera d’Alba 2010
Denser and more intense, earthier and more savoury red fruits and violets. Focused yet round, clean lines yet nice and broad, tight focused fruit.

Valmaggiore Nebbiolo d’Alba 2010
Very aromatic intense floral dark fruit. Explosive structure, very intense fruit acid and tannin structure, very long and fine on the palate, very tight with plenty of aging potential.

Valmaggiore Nebbiolo d’Alba 2009
Hauntingly soft nose, very complex with cherry anise and delicate roses. Bright fresh and lively on the palate yet soft and intense, bombastic tannins yet refreshing acids, delicate structure and plenty of red fruits.

Valmaggiore Nebbiolo d’Alba 2008
Earthier darker and softer fruit, more focused mushroom savouriness, opening up over time. Very tight yet soft sweet fruit tannins, showing some chocolate and caramel notes as it develops.

Valmaggiore Nebbiolo d’Alba 2007
Falling away a bit, drinking very well now, not a keeper. Possibly a product of the vintage it is lovely and soft and approachable but won’t improve much more in the bottle.

Le Vigne Barolo 2008
Some savoury Japanese sauce notes, intense ripe red fruits, very ruby. Tight and intense, packs a punch on the front palate, delicate and clean on the mid and back. Classic.

Cannubi Boschis Barolo 2008
Darker and more intense complexity. Softer warmer tannins yet explosive mid-palate, brooding tight tannins, bright dark red fruits. Needs plenty of time in bottle.

Le Vigne Barolo 2004
Softer and earthier with age, chocolate dust, soft red cherry and plum. Sleek and silky on the palate with plenty of tannins and acid, very bright red with tight focused freshness.

Cannubi Boschis Barolo 2004
More intense and masculine broody darkness, less fruit brightness on the nose. Richer, fuller and darker on the palate, bolder but softer structure, more tannin yet somehow more approachable than the ’04 Le Vigne.

Le Vigne Barolo 2003
Soft bright and a little simple in a closed way aromatically. Hot full soft and forward with some dense red fruit but lacking extension on the palate.

Cannubi Boschis Sibi et Paucis Barolo 2003
Slightly more foresty and chocolate on the nose. Denser and more expressive, holding together much better, darker fruit and sweeter tannins still with plenty of acid.

Le Vigne Sibi et Paucis Barolo 2002
Insanely complex intense yet shy on the nose. Showing very young despite age, still plenty of life in it, very tight structure and acidity.

Le Vigne Barolo 2001
Soft round red fruit earthiness on the nose. Dense and a little aggressive on the alcohol.

Bottles of Sandrone wine

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Stained teeth and dehydration

Late August and September generally means budburst out in the vineyards of Australia, but in the wine trade it generally means one thing; Portfolio Days! The converging factors of slow periods in the winery allowing winemakers to head out on the road, and the beginning of the four-month period leading into Christmas means this is the perfect time to invite trade supporters into one location to exhibit one’s wares, whilst inviting principles along to spruik. With countless distributors showing hundreds of wines each, it is with great enthusiasm and trepidation that I headed into this period, particularly given I am about to head off on the grand tour in about three weeks. Here are the tastings I’ve been to in the last two weeks.

Awesome Augusti Torello Mata bottle

Awesome Augusti Torello Mata bottle

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Is this the most exciting winemaker in Australia?

I think it is only fitting that my first official wine post be about a producer in my spiritual wine home – the Yarra Valley – as I started my wine career working in the cellar door at Chandon before moving into the marketing department. Having worked in the region for over three years and driven over most of it, this was pretty interesting… On the 15th of this month I was lucky enough to be invited to a day exploring the Mac Forbes stomping ground, including a harrowing micro-flight over the region to see each of the many vineyards he sources from. It’s been awhile since I suffered motion sickness – as a child I couldn’t be in a car for more than 4 hours without throwing up – but this flight certainly brought something back up (pun intended, though not literally thank god!) Whilst it was extremely interesting to see the extent and diversity of this misunderstood region from such a height, I struggled with the turbulence and was pretty quiet for the second half of the flight, glad to be back on solid ground once we landed. The helicopter  flight above the McLaren Vale a few months ago was slightly more relaxing.

Quite a view from high above the valley

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