Ribera del Duero 11/5/05
So originally, in the interest of doing something "different," Heather and I were considering doing Pinotage for this tasting, which is a blend of Pinot Noir and Cinsaut, grown almost exclusively in South Africa. However, K&L had only one Pinotage, BevMo had only one, and the Wine Club had no South African wines at all. Faced with this dilemma, coupled with the observation of Kirk at K&L that "Pinotage is hard to find because Americans don't like it," we decided to pursue another option.
We finally decided on Spanish wines, but Mark had already done Spanish wines, so we wanted to do something specific. I told Heather I'd tried some wines from the Ribera del Duero region that I liked, so we looked for those, and were surprised to find six different bottles at K&L from Ribera del Duero that were all within our price range (they also had a number of others that were above our price range).
So, here are the six wines we tried. The tasting order was suggested by Kirk at K&L, from lightest to heaviest:
1. 2002 Alejandro Fernandez, Tinto do Pesquera, Ribera del Duero, $18.99 (was $21.00)
2. 2003 Martin Berdugo Barrica, Ribera del Duero, $9.99 (was $14.99)
3. 2001 Bodegas Montebaco, Pago Senda Misa, Ribero del Duero, Crianza, $10.99 (was $16.99)
4. 2003 Bodegas Arrocal Arrocal, $14.99
5. 2002 Telmo Rodriguez M2, Ribera del Duero, $20.99
6. 2001 Ébano Ribera del Duero, $16.99 (was $24.99)
Two things really stuck out to me about these wines. One was the consistency between them all; while some were lighter and some were a little heavier, and some had notes the others didn't, they were still all more similar to one another than the wines in most of the other tastings we've done. The other thing was that every single one of these wines was a winner...not a clunker in the bunch.
That said, I think #1 was probably the most complex overall, #2 had the most lively fruit, and #5 and #6 were bold and concentrated enough that ideally they would be served with red meat. #3 started off kind of boring, but once it opened up, it had a lot going on, and it won the value title of the evening. Really though, no way to go wrong with any of these.
As an addendum, near the end of the evening, AJ and I cracked into a bottle of J Pear Liqueur that Heather and I had bought the previous Saturday while we were all in Sonoma. J's own literature about the pear liqueur says the following:
The verdict?
Yeah...pretty much what they said. Really tasty stuff.
We finally decided on Spanish wines, but Mark had already done Spanish wines, so we wanted to do something specific. I told Heather I'd tried some wines from the Ribera del Duero region that I liked, so we looked for those, and were surprised to find six different bottles at K&L from Ribera del Duero that were all within our price range (they also had a number of others that were above our price range).
So, here are the six wines we tried. The tasting order was suggested by Kirk at K&L, from lightest to heaviest:
1. 2002 Alejandro Fernandez, Tinto do Pesquera, Ribera del Duero, $18.99 (was $21.00)
2. 2003 Martin Berdugo Barrica, Ribera del Duero, $9.99 (was $14.99)
3. 2001 Bodegas Montebaco, Pago Senda Misa, Ribero del Duero, Crianza, $10.99 (was $16.99)
4. 2003 Bodegas Arrocal Arrocal, $14.99
5. 2002 Telmo Rodriguez M2, Ribera del Duero, $20.99
6. 2001 Ébano Ribera del Duero, $16.99 (was $24.99)
Two things really stuck out to me about these wines. One was the consistency between them all; while some were lighter and some were a little heavier, and some had notes the others didn't, they were still all more similar to one another than the wines in most of the other tastings we've done. The other thing was that every single one of these wines was a winner...not a clunker in the bunch.
That said, I think #1 was probably the most complex overall, #2 had the most lively fruit, and #5 and #6 were bold and concentrated enough that ideally they would be served with red meat. #3 started off kind of boring, but once it opened up, it had a lot going on, and it won the value title of the evening. Really though, no way to go wrong with any of these.
As an addendum, near the end of the evening, AJ and I cracked into a bottle of J Pear Liqueur that Heather and I had bought the previous Saturday while we were all in Sonoma. J's own literature about the pear liqueur says the following:
The Process
In 1995, Bartlett Pear juice was fermented to dryness in stainless steel tanks. The juice was then double distilled in copper alambic stills, yielding a pear brandy (eau-de-vie) of approximately 50% alcohol. The pear eau-de-vie was aged for 10 years in 90 gallon Limousin oak barrels. Distilled water and liquid sugar were added to reduce the alcohol level to 30% (60 proof). The sugar broadens the palate and takes away the heat, bringing forth the pear essence. The liqueur was then cold stabilized and aged for an additional 6 months before bottling.
The Taste
J Pear Liqueur explodes in the glass with bright pear essence, butterscotch, chamomile, and vanilla aromas. A hint of apple pie and cinnamon notes blend with the aged cognac character. The flavors are predominantly that of baked pears, honeysuckle, butterscotch, and honey with an extremely long aftertaste of pears.
The verdict?
Yeah...pretty much what they said. Really tasty stuff.
posted by joeybliley at 9:55 PM
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