Rojo
There you have it. About as fluent in the Spanish language as I get. Truly a disappointment to my late mother, whose parents were born in Mexico and raised her speaking Spanish alongside English. To my credit, I have developed some fluency in one thing Spanish - you guessed it, their wine.
Over the years I have become a BIG fan of Spanish wines, particularly reds, in part because they represent such great value (see “QPR”, a new entry in Wine 101 just before the Food & Wine section). Also because…well, listen to Virginia Madsen’s last sentence in the video clip from Sideways that is on my Life of Wine page above.
Spain has so much to offer that we can’t possibly cover it all in one post, so we will be returning there in the coming months. To help get you on the Spain Train, I will be profiling in this post two examples of wine made from their flagship red grape: Tempranillo. Our wines are from the same year but they come from two different wine growing regions: Ribera del Duero and Rioja.
But WAIT! Fear not my white wine lovers…at the end of the post I will do a quick highlight of a WHITE RIOJA!
You know what’s coming next…
To get you oriented, here is a map of ALL of Spain’s wine growing regions:
Let’s locate our wines first: On this map, find the word “Espana” in the middle, then look directly north for the yellow colored region. That is Ribera del Duero. From there, look northeast to find the lime (?) green colored region which is Rioja (“La Rioja”).
When we return to Spain we will explore amazing red blends just southwest of Barcelona (N.E. corner of the map if you need a geography refresher!) in the Priorat, Montsant and Penedes regions. Think of these as “Spanish Bordeaux” but with different grapes. We will also go to Galicia in the northwest corner of Spain near the Atlantic, to Rias Baixas (pronounced “Rhee-yus By-shus”), to learn about Spain’s great white wine, Albarino.
Ok, a couple of Tempranillo tips before we dive into our wines. Tempranillo is Spain’s number one red wine grape, although it isn’t always called Tempranillo! In our first wine, from the Ribera del Duero region, the grape is called “Tinto Fino”. Further along the Duero river, near Portugal, it is called Tinta de Toro, and in neighboring Portugal, it is known as Tinta Roriz.
Tempranillo is bold, rich and complex. It loves sun! It will have noticeable tannins as well as acidity. Good Tempranillo is aged at least a year in oak and can develop in the bottle for many years.
Our first wine: Torre de Golban, produced by Dominio de Atauta. I have been buying this wine at my local store, Heinens, for high teens/$19. For my non-local readers, the importer is Aviva Vino in NYC, so it may be more widely available.
Dominio de Atauta Tinto Fino (Tempranillo): “Torre de Golban” 2016
A couple of things to note on the label (besides the intriguing graphic):
In the lower right, see the word “Crianza”. We noted this in Wine 101. If you are looking at a label and you don’t have any idea what kind of wine it is, Crianza will tell you it is Spanish, most likely a Tempranillo. It means it has spent around two years aging, at least one of those in an oak barrel.
In the lower left, you see the words ‘Denominacion de Origen”, or “DO”. As we mention in Wine 101, this is one of the quality tiers Spain uses to classify its wines. DO is the “lowest of the highest tier”.
Speaking of intriguing graphic, what’s with the wall? The Bodegas Dominio de Atauta winery was built in the Atauta Valley in Soria, Spain, just east of the central Ribera del Duero region (see below). The name pays homage to a nearby “Atalaya”, or watchtower, dating back to the time of the Moors. Golban was a river that carved through the Atauta Valley.
Our wine was fermented in stainless, then aged for 1 year in French oak, 70% of which was used oak and 30% new. The majority of used oak helps keep the tannins in balance. These vineyards are approximately 3000 feet above sea level, which helps the grape mature more slowly. The vines are all very old, around 80 years! There is not a lot of rainfall, and the soils are a calcareous clay, which stays cooler and better retains what little water there is. All of this, combined with large swings in temperature from day to night, produce ideal growing conditions for bold wines.
Here is the Bodega:
Tasting:
The wine displays a medium-to-deep ruby color in the glass. On the nose, you definitely get black cherries and maybe a little spice. That first full sip follows the nose: black cherries, fig, spice notes. I also pick up a little tobacco/cigar note from the oak aging. The wine has some acidity (the elevation helps produce that), but not too much. The finish is long, with noticeable tannins but they are not overpowering.
The Bottom Line:
I know I told you we wouldn’t be rating wines, but I will allow myself a quote from The Wine Spectator’s review of this wine: “Powerful yet Graceful”. I think that sums it up well. With that long, smooth finish, this wine is nicely textured. The Torre de Golban (and reds from the Ribera del Duero in general) is an excellent match with many red meat dishes. Salud!
Our next wine: Obalo Crianza. From Rioja. I bought this at Heinens for $19. Also imported by Aviva Vino in NYC.
Bodegas Obalo Tempranillo: Obalo Crianza 2016
Kind of a minimalist label, but what is it telling us?
You see the words “Rioja” and “Crianza”, which tell you this is a wine from the Rioja region of Spain. It has been aged in oak for at least a year. When you look at the bottle and see the wine, you will know it is a red! I didn’t show you the back, but it does say 100% Tempranillo, so you know what you are getting (definitely read the back labels!).
You see the words “Denominacion de Origen Calificada” or DOC. Remember our first wine? It was only “DO”, not “DOC”. One step up. A more rigorous quality standard. Currently only Rioja and Priorat carry the DOC designation.
Let’s have a look at Rioja:
Rioja is divided into 3 principal sub-regions: Alavesa, Alta and Baja. Bodegas Obalo is located in Alta, but most of its vineyards are in Alavesa. Look carefully on the map at the pumpkin-colored Rioja Alavesa region. Obalo is situated just over the border into the yellow Alta region, east of Abalos.
Look north of the Alavesa region. The map shows a grey mountain range called Sierra de Cantabria. Obalo is nestled between the mountains and the river Ebro, resulting in prime “terroir” (101 check).
Our wine was fermented in steel and then spent 14 months in French oak, both new and used. The vines are old, anywhere between 40 and 90(!) years. Similar clay/limestone-based soils. In 2016, after a dry winter, the vineyards were hit with a lot of rain, which accelerated the growth of the vines. This was followed by a very hot and dry summer, which concentrated the flavor of the grapes.
Tasting:
Similar to the Torre de Golban, the Obalo shows medium to deep ruby in the glass. The nose has those same black fruits, but also a bit of a violet note. The initial taste has that “follows the nose” element of dark cherries, but also shows plums as well as spice notes. Acidity is balanced and the finish is satisfyingly long. Tannins are firm, holding the whole package together.
The Bottom Line:
Another winner. The Obalo is bold but at the same time elegant (not unlike what Wine Spectator said about the Torre Golban!). It is “mouth-filling”. Some of you may not know exactly what I mean by this, but you will as your journey with the Doctor continues. From a food perspective, this is another great companion to red meats, anything with mushrooms and Spain’s great cheese, Manchego.
The Prescription:
Spain makes incredibly good wine, and I’ve just scratched the surface here. I promise I will do another dive in the not too distant future. Much more to learn and enjoy, but start with Tempranillo - you can’t go wrong. I’ve been waiting to use this phrase, but it is appropriate here: “I want you in these wines”.
Other Suggestions:
Because there are so many great wines to choose from, I will limit my other suggestions to just 3 in the regions we have just explored. These top producers will cost you more than the ~$20 price guideline I try to observe, but they are well worth it if you want to pay-up a bit. However, don’t be afraid to experiment with other names from Rioja or Ribera del Duero:
R. Lopez de Heredia - A premier producer in Rioja that has been around since the 19th century. Still family-owned. They age their wines much longer than most: the currently available vintage for their “Tondonia Reserva” is 2007! They even have their own in-house barrel maker.
Bodegas Muga - Another one of Rioja’s most highly regarded producers. A family business since the 1930s. Located in Haro, the same city in Rioja Alta as Lopez de Heredia.
Elias Mora - A quality producer of Tinta de Toro (remember the different names for Tempranillo above?), located west of Ribera del Duero in the Valladolid region.
White Rioja?
As promised, I want to share with you a few quick insights on a white Rioja I bought: Luis Canas Blanco.
You can clearly see the wine is from Rioja, the Alavesa sub region. If you are up on your Spanish, you will know this white wine spent some time in barrels. Here’s what you need to know about the Luis Canas:
Family-owned wine growers since 1928. They make a variety of reds in addition to this white.
The grape used to make this wine is called Viura. It is also used to make Spain’s sparkling wine, Cava, where it changes its name to Macabeo.
After fermentation the wine spent about 4 months in French and American oak.
When you pour it, you are struck by its beautiful golden yellow color. The nose shows both fruit and flowers.
Viura has a taste reminiscent of Sauvignon Blanc, so if you like that grape, you should try this for comparison. I got lime and honeydew flavors, accompanied by a distinct note of hazelnut. It has just enough acidity to keep things fresh, but not quite as zingy as a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc for example. The 4 months spent in oak gives this wine some unique, rounder, richer qualities.
You can enjoy this wine with anything seafood/shellfish, but also white meats, salads and risotto.
Well, that about wraps this one up. Hope you enjoyed and will follow through to start (or continue!) your Spanish journey. As always, please reach out with questions, comments, requests, etc. Tell me what you are drinking!
Until next time…Cheers!