It’s spring time and summers just around the corner. Today, as I walked over to the 20th editon of Gourmetour, I was blessed with a slight breeze that cut down the sun’s growing heat in Madrid. However, despite the heat, everything has been green and beautiful as a result of some brief heavy rains - quite the exception considering the past few years. The weather, in combination with the red and white Spanish wines, along with a Sherry or two, made for a great day. I will share the following notes as an intro to my summer sherry season - the time when I find my refridgerator consistently storing a bottle or two for me to sample. So enjoy the note, and if your starting your sherry season, drop us a line and let us know what your drinking!

Till soon,

Ryan Opaz

• N.V. Bodegas Navarro Montilla-Moriles Fino - Spain, Andalucía, Montilla-Moriles (5/8/2006)
  Incredibly intense nose of nutty salt air and rich hazelnut aromas. Creamy in the mouth with a strong alcohol and good acidity. Lush and tasty this wine screams of nuts and the aromas associated with them while the salt air rounds it out. A very intense interpretation of the style but throughly enjoyable.
  

Spring is here in Spain and the patios are starting to open up along the avenues of Madrid. Madrilenos (Spainards from Madrid) favorite pastime is walking, talking and drinking on the sidewalk while seated side by side. It’s around this time that parents and grandparents are found relaxing during the afternoons, gabbing about everything and nothing along the streetside cafes. Inevitably, it will also include a glass of wine or two or three, depending on whether the subject is political or if it wanders to whose family has the “best” toritlla recipe in Spain. As for me, it’s a chance to get some fresh air before the sweltering summer heat arrives forbidding me to even sip a glass before I melt. Spring in Madrid, and I would assume most everywhere in the world, is a time to rejoice in the rebirth of the earth, new plant life blossoming and birds singing. This season also includes a return to two wines that I tend to sideline during the winter months: sherry and rosés, not because I fail to enjoy them during the winter months, but because I tend to forget about them as I pour over the wine list at the restaurant. However, I once again celebrated its existence by enjoying a bottle of sherry at a local Brazilian restaurant last week and I intend to seek out a nice rosé this coming week.

Dry, off-dry and sweet are the main ways you’ll encounter rosés, and today, I want to highlight one particular Bogegas rosé that I haven’t tasted the likes of before. During my past trip to Barcelona, I was presented with my first ever barrel fermented rosé! That’s right, a rosé fermented and then aged in a barrel! Before all the anti-oak rants start, keep this in mind: when done right, oak doesn’t have to be a primary flavor, but rather a component of the whole. That was the case this time.
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When I worked in my liquor store back in the States, I became enamored with old, long lost cocktails that once held a place in the better bars around the world. I studied the Martini, originally 4 parts red vermouth to 1 part gin. I fell in love with the Manhattan, only after I found that the key was straight rye whiskey and high end vermouth. Soon, I found myself collecting vermouth from around the world to use in these once “exotic” drinks, feeling as though I was one of the few who recognized the essential ingredient of good vermouth to mix a fantastic drink. Boy was I wrong!

Allow me to clarify myself in that I still love my mixed drinks and will accept a properly made Manhattan at the drop of a hat, but what I failed to realize is the basic truth to it all - if you can’t drink the vermouth by itself, why use it in a mixed drink? That’s right, I said it, DRINK VERMOUTH BY ITSELF! I know it sounds strange to an American, but any of my European readers are probably saying to themselves, “DUH!”

It was shortly after arriving in Spain when I started to see signs in bars announcing that they had Vermut de Grifo, or Vermouth on tap. I thought to myself, “Silly Spaniards, don’t they know how to use vermouth correctly?” I couldn’t find one good Martini glass in any bar around town, but they had vermouth on tap? For months, I ignored the signs and stuck to my guns swearing that vermouth was to mix, not to drink.

Now, fast forward approximately six months to a dark stormy night when we met up with a few new friends whom we I had found on the blog The Full Bottle maintained by a Spaniard and an American living in Madrid. Having food and wine as our mutual interests, the conversation pretty much stayed in the same vein all night. Eventually, the conversation meandered towards Vermouth when I asked Juan what his thoughts on vermouth being sold on tap. His was response was not what I had initially expected when he said, “I like it!” Previous to this enthusiastic statement, I believed that only a false wine lover would acknowledge vermouth as a stand alone drink. So, what did we do? We flew out of one vermouth bar and onto another for an evening of Vermouth tastings. (more…)

Editors note: A while back, I called upon the powers of Craigs List to find myself some help. We wanted to cover more wines, more regions, and to have some different perspectives here on Catavino. This week we’re showcasing a couple of articles from two of the most qualified respondents, and if all works out, you’ll be hearing more from them as we continue to move forward. Today Adrienne Smith, who lives here in Madrid, has a short note on Noble Rot! Let her know what you think of her story. In a couple of weeks, we’ll be introducing our new writers more formally, so stay tuned!

If there were ever two words that I never expected to see together they are noble and rot. Notwithstanding, this is the nickname for the fungus Botrytis Cinerea which can attack grapes, covering them with a gray mold and strangely, sometimes making us jump for joy. Much in the same way that someone discovered that you can eat an artichoke, or that meat tenderizer takes away a jellyfish sting; someone one day discovered that under the right conditions this noble rot could be the impetus for the production of many of the world’s great sweet wines, such as the French Sauternes or Hungarian Tokajis. In years when there is too much humidity, this fungus can quickly extend through a vineyard, covering the grapes with a gray mold, and ruining the harvest. However if the process begins and the weather stays dry and warm, it can take place very slowly, and this fungi foe-turned-friend will penetrate and shrivel the skins of grapes using up all of the water in the juice. This causes the sugars, flavors, and acids to concentrate, ultimately resulting in complex, unique and sweet wines.

There are some grape varieties that are especially good at withstanding or rather experiencing noble rot, known as podredumbre noble in Spanish. They tend to be white grapes such as the Semillon, Sauvignon, and Chenin varieties used to make the Sauternes in France, or the Riesling variety in Germany. (more…)

Some of my loyal readers will no doubt remember my interview last year with the well known Christopher Cannan of Europvin. I mention this because at Alimentaria, I was able to talk with him again and taste through some of his wines - more specifically, the Spanish wines from his estate Laurona located in the Montsant region of Spain. I was also able to taste a few wines from his personal property in Clos Figuera located in the Priorat region. Laurona is co-managed with the famous Spanish winemaker René Barbier of the famous Clos Morgador - possibly one of Spain’s greatest red wines.

For me, both sets of wines were everything you could hope for in their respective styles- rich, intense and full of complexity. After having just been to the Priorat region and having toured the area, I found it absolutely amazing how different the wines could be, considering that they are made within a very short distance of each other.

The Priorat wines you can typically spot from afar with their inky concentration of color and intoxicating aromas that seem to draw me in with ghostly fingers. On the other hand, the Montsant wines were somewhat lighter in color with a delicate, soft nature that felt a bit seductive - never quite giving up their full charm but leading me on and drawing me back to take another taste.

I have to admit to having not spitting all that I should have while tasting his wines at Alimentaria. In truth, I almost always do, but in this case I found that the wines I had before me deserved to be acknowledged for what they were, and experienced how they were meant to be.

Enjoy the notes…
Ryan Opaz

• 2002 Europvin-Falset Montsant 6 Vinyes de Laurona - Spain, Catalunya, Tarragona, Montsant (3/13/2006)
  Deep clear red in color. The nose shows toasted oak, red fruits, and pepper. In the mouth fine thick tannins and a strong acidity balance each other well. Great raspberry flavors with black pepper, and minerals.

• 2002 Europvin-Falset Montsant Laurona - Spain, Catalunya, Tarragona, Montsant (3/13/2006)
  Rich clear red color. The nose shows anise, vanilla, wood, ripe fresh cherries. It has a high acidity with fine tannins apparent in the back palate. Flavors of raspberry, pepper and rich mineral flavors throughout.

3.5/5

• 2003 Clos Figueres Priorat - Spain, Catalunya, Priorat (3/13/2006)
  Deep reddish purple in the glass with a nose that shows dusty earth, anise, tar and mineral laden dark fruit. Deep and powerful with huge tannins thick and dense. The palate is awash with black fruit, anise, chocolate, minerals, tar, cherries…earth….and more. Really the finish is close to a minute. Great wine,

• 2003 Europvin-Falset Montsant 6 Vinyes de Laurona - Spain, Catalunya, Tarragona, Montsant (3/13/2006)
  Deep dark red, very intense in the glass. The nose shows a fruit background with oak, pepper, and vanilla overtones. Creamy in the mouth with a lush fruit palate, anise, black raspberries, and more. This is a great wine with tannins and acid to go for another 5-10 yrs.

• 2003 Europvin-Falset Montsant Laurona - Spain, Catalunya, Tarragona, Montsant (3/13/2006)
  Rich red color, clear and brilliant. The nose shows chocolate, anise, and fresh cherries. Dense in the mouth with medium weight tannins. The acidity is high and helps to keep this wine fresh as flavors of fresh raspberries and vanilla oak round out the palate.

• 2004 Clos Figueres Priorat Font de la Figuera - Spain, Catalunya, Priorat (3/13/2006)
  Deep rich purple in color. The nose is of raisiny earth, black fruit, and rich spice on the nose. The palate is dense and intense with firm but fine tannins. Flavors of chocolate, anise, black raspberry, plum, prunes and clove all come wrapped in a rich earthy blanket. Fun wine