Address: Ctra. Requena-Albacete (N-322) KM 430, 250m left, Los Isidros

Telephone: 963 992 400

URL: www.constantia.es

Sponsor of Vino Valencia Wine Night at Tahine, January 20, 2010, with:
• Constantia Crianza 2006

This is a 600-hectare estate belonging to the García-Guzmán García family in Los Isidros de Requena, in which there are 52 hectares of vineyards, comprising Bobal, Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz, Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier.

Since 2003 the bodega has been producing its Constantia range of red wines: Constantia Joven (Bobal and Tempranillo), the unoaked Constantia Sine Robore (also Bobal and Tempranillo), and the oak-aged Constantia Crianza (Tempranillo, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Bobal).

It is a female team behind these wines, in 2007 it was the only winery in Europe run entirely by women — a “bodega de mujeres” (a bodega of women) as their website puts it, and their slogan is “Vinos con carácter femenino” (wines with femininity).

There is a book that needs to be written on the important role of women in the world of Spanish wine. These wines certainly opt for subtlety and finesse over the sledgehammer tendency.

I first came across the wines and some of the members of the team at Valencia’s annual Mostra de Vins i Aliments Tradicionals of 2007, when the Constantia Crianza was awarded first prize in the “Vinos de Crianza” category. There is a buzz every year around their stand at this event in the old Turia riverbed, and the wines and the winery continue to go from strength to strength. In early 2010 the new visitors’ and social centre will open to the public.

We are delighted to be kicking of this significant year for the bodega with one of their wines.

Address: Finca Santa Rosa, Ctra. Fontanars (CV-660) KM 24, 46870 Ontinyent

Telephone: 962 380 638

URL: www.bodegaelangosto.com

Sponsor of Vino Valencia Wine Night at Tahine, January 20, 2010, with:
• Angosto Negre 2007

The bodega is in a grand old Valencian farm-cum-manor house, Finca Santa Rosa, in the Vall d’Albaida near Ontinyent, just the Valencia side of Alicante. It belongs to the Cambra family, who have a 150-year old nursery business which this is part of, and offers a fascinating glimpse into rural life of yesteryear, as a place where all of the agricultural process was concentrated in one place – there are some wonderful old implements dotted around.

The surname resonates in today’s Valencian wine world largely as a result of the exploits of one of the region’s most prominent young winemakers, Rafael Cambra, who is involved in the El Angosto wines in an advisory capacity. Working in conjunction with Rafael Cambra is another young and highly-trained winemaker, the personable and enthusiastic Oscar Priego. Despite the long-established nursery business and the family’s relationship with vines as part of this, the El Angosto project dates only from 2004.

There are four wines, three reds — El Angosto (a blend of Syrah, Graciano, Petit Verdot, Garnacha Tintorera and Malbec), La Tribu (50% Monastrell and 50% Syrah) and Los Almendros (Garnacha Tintorera, Marselan and Syrah) — alongside El Angosto Blanco (Verdejo, Muscat à Petits Grains, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay).

The fascinating diversity conveys the access to a great range of different vines that the family business provides, but these are by no means show-off wines at high prices. The wines run from under 5 euros in the case of La Tribu and the Angosto Blanco to just over 6 for El Angosto red and a little over 10 euros for Los Almendros.

These last two reds share the highest-ranking of any DO Valencia wine in the 2010 edition of Guía Peñín (92 points) and the other two aren’t far behind at 88 and 89 respectively.

Name wine: Angosto Negre 2007

Type: red

Winery: Bodega El Angosto, D.O. Valencia

AVIN: 5235938990900

Used on event: Vino Valencia Wine Night at Tahine, January 20, 2010

Sold in these shops:
• Alforins.com – €
• El Mostagan – 7,95€
• Las Añadas de España – 7,95€

Angosto means narrow or inaccessible, and it is the name of one of the property’s vineyards that has been chosen for this wine and the bodega itself.

I’m sure we all have fresh in our minds the Bible’s “strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life” (Matthew 7:14), and this wine has plenty of life, as well as plenty of different grape varieties (Syrah, Graciano, Petit Verdot, Garnacha Tintorera and Malbec). The complex blend actually produces a wine that is honest, straightforward and agreeable.

Suffice to say that this wine and another red wine from the bodega — the newly-launched Los Almendros which has promptly sold out — have received the highest ranking given to any DO Valencia wines in the 2010 issue of Spain’s preeminent wine guide, the Guía Peñín, with 92 points apiece. This is the result of skilled winemaking, by the dynamic duo of Oscar Priego and Rafael Cambra, that is also in tune with its vineyards and immediate surroundings.

The wine is upfront and Mediterranean, but with hidden depths that reveal themselves gradually.

Vino Valencia Tasting Notes

Appearance: Brilliant black cherry with hints of violet at the rim of the glass. Elegant minimalist label on bottle was also admired.
Nose: Lots there, blackberry and other forest fruits, vanilla.
Palate: Silky, with a gentle acidity that leads to more earthy tastes (a hint of tree-bark someone said — in a good way, I think) and rounded tannins.
Tahine food thoughts: Eddie is thinking of doing something with tomato — generally perceived as a tricky wine match. The challenge is on.

Name wine: Fondillón Gran Reserva 1987

Type: Fondillón

Winery: Bodegas Salvador Poveda, D.O. Alicante

AVIN: 9524405398469

Used on event: Vino Valencia Wine Night at Tahine, January 20, 2010

Sold in these shops:
• Carrefour – €
• El Corte Inglés – €
• El Mostagan – 36,00€ (1980)
• Las Añadas de España – €
• Vine de Vins – 32,50€

Everyone lucky enough to live in the Comunidad Valenciana and to have easy access to this Fondillón should make a point of always having a bottle in the house to offer friends and relatives. They will probably never have heard of this once world-famous Alicante wine (more info at Catavino.net).

It is largely thanks to this bodega that Fondillón didn’t disappear altogether, as the father of the current generation of Povedas was instrumental in rescuing and recovering it.

Your guests will be delighted to try this amazing old wine, unique to Alicante, made from overripened Monastrell grapes that then spend decades in huge wooden barrels, gaining complexity while losing sweetness and colour, to turn into this amber-red gem.

This is history in a glass.

Vino Valencia Tasting Notes

Appearance: Shifts between a violet and amber colour from one minute and angle to the next.
Nose: Amazingly potent aroma, raisins, dried peaches, caramel, a touch of smokiness and leather.
Palate: Tastes sweet, but with a touch of acidity, too, along with a rich background of toasted wood, dried fruits again, with a wonderfully lingering presence in the mouth.
Tahine food thoughts: another unorthodox inspiration to go with this aged, oxidized yet sweet wine, in the shape of cured salmon.

Name wine: Constantia Crianza 2006

Type: oak-aged red wine

Winery: Viñedos La Madroñera, D.O. Utiel-Requena

AVIN: 2791212812847

Used on event: Vino Valencia Wine Night at Tahine, January 20, 2010

Sold in these shops:
• Damajuana – €
• Vinostrum – 9,80€

I don’t know whether it’s because Viñedos La Madroñera is run by women, and I hate to run the risk of falling into gender stereotypes, but this wine does have a delicate fragrance, subtlety and smooth finesse that some people see as female qualities, and which do characterize the whole Constantia range (described as “vinos con carácter femenino”).

I am, of course, a died-in-the-wool feminist, who considers women to be as capable of being rough and tough as any hardbitten hombre. Nevertheless, this wine has a delicate allure that you might not automatically expect from its blend of Tempranillo, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Bobal.

The winemaker, Cristina Berbegal Brodín, has done wonders to achieve this velvet smoothness without sacrificing character and presence, and coming in at a solid 14% ABV. Those of you lucky enough to talk to Cristina at the Vino Valencia event will have had the opportunity of finding out what the secret is.

Vino Valencia Tasting Notes

Appearance: Dark, intense red.
Nose: Initial floral overtones (roses), followed by beguiling hints of strawberry, and a delicate oak presence.
Palate: Kicks off with slightly sharp berry flavours, then follows up with sweeter tannins and a more unctuous, balsamic fullness, with a cool, fresh, lingering aniseed presence underlying the wine.
Tahine food thoughts: Something to play with the sweetness in the wine – caramel-based savoury.

Anyone who has tried to track down a particular wine knows how difficult and frustrating it can be to find it, and to give the possible sellers the exact information they need. Bar-codes by-and-large only function at store check-outs to provide the price.

The new generation of smarter codes is fast establishing itself in the form of the QR (for Quick Response) or Bi-dimensional Code. There can be few products where this is as needed as wine, where there is such an enormous quantity and diversity of production, and where there is a new and different load sent out by every producer every year to join what is already out there.

One of our favourite wine websites, Adegga, is pushing the concept, along with other forward thinkers, of Dynamic Wine Labels incorporating a QR. They call this universal identifier the AVIN, and add it to every wine that is logged on their website. The idea is that soon, when you come across a wine with a label that has a QR, you can take a snapshot of this with your mobile phone to access a whole load of additional information about the wine.

There are similar developments going on in the book sector also. In Spain, Grupo Biblo publish among other things city guidebooks with a QR graphic on the back, that they call a Bidi (for “bidimensional”) code. Naturally they call this service bidimobile. When you snapshot this you get additional and updated info on the city. So, the technology is there (as always it is far more developed in Japan, apparently).

I suspect that in years to come we will wonder how we ever managed without the wine AVIN. I’m also confident that it will be a lot more fun to access the products and information offered by Adegga than to go into a branch of WHSmith in search of an interesting book.

We have already included the AVIN numbers to our wines and from now on we will also add the QR Codes to the wine profiles on the Vino Valencia website.

Address: CV-830 Ctra. Monóvar Salinas Km, 3, 03640 Monóvar

Telephone: 966 960 180

URL: www.salvadorpoveda.com

Sponsor of Vino Valencia Wine Night at Tahine, January 20, 2010, with:
• Fondillón Gran Reserva 1987

This bodega was founded by Salvador Poveda Corbí in 1919 in Monóver, Alicante. Among the many achievements of this winery, one of the most significant is the role of the founder’s son, Salvador Poveda Luz, in rescuing from virtual oblivion the wine that was synonymous with Alicante from the 16th to the 19th centuries, when it was one of the most celebrated, and expensive, wines in the world, Fondillón.

The current generation, with Rafael and Salvador Poveda Bernabé at the helm, have of course continued to produce magnificent Fondillons, but have also continued to modernize and develop. The winery has moved to a brand new building, all light and spaciousness with expansive views across the magnificent countryside around.

Visitors are welcome from Monday to Saturday. The luckiest visitors may be able to enter the mystical “Sacristía”, where the most ancient casks of Fondillón lie in splendour, bearing the signatures of the most privileged visitors.

But the bodega and its wines are thoroughly modern, also. A broad range of reds (Monastrells, Cabernet Sauvignons, Merlots, Syrahs and Tempranillos), whites (Macabeo, Moscatel and even a rare Spanish Riesling) and rosado (Monastrell) wines are produced.

These are exported in significant quantities around the world to Denmark, Holland, Germany, Sweden, France, Belgium, the UK, Russia, Brazil and the USA. Let’s enjoy them in Valencia, too.

Photos of Bodegas Salvador Poveda:
]]> http://www.vino-valencia.com/wineries/bodegas-salvador-poveda/feed/ 0 http://www.vino-valencia.com/wines/cava-brut-2006/ http://www.vino-valencia.com/wines/cava-brut-2006/#comments Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:03:46 +0000 John http://www.vino-valencia.com/?p=440 what’s this?

Name wine: Cava Brut 2006

Type: Cava

Winery: Castell dels Sorells, D.O. Cava

AVIN: 1918463720504

Used on event: Vino Valencia Wine Night at Tahine, December 16, 2009

Sold in these shops:
• El Corte Inglés – 6,50€

This bodega pioneered sparkling wine in the Comunitat Valenciana (it wasn’t called “cava” back in 1981 when the bodega was founded), and this Cava reflects that experience, as it builds on traditional Cava qualities (effervescence and accessibility blended with a structured acidity) and eliminates some of the related weaknesses that can occur (excessive but short-lasting bubbliness with coarse acidity).

This Brut is made with the classic Cava grape varieties (Macabeo, Xarel.lo and Malvasia) and also Chardonnay. From the delicate warmth of the colour to the balance of bubbles and sharpness, alongside a good dose of further fruit notes on the nose, you know you are in good hands.

The gentle pressing of “mosto flor” is followed by fermentation and a subsequent 4-month ageing on its lees (yeast deposits which give added flavour and complexity) in stainless steel containers. The wine is bottled for its second fermentation and stored for at least 14 months in the winery’s cellars, which are 7 metres below ground and at a constant 15ºC. The result is a carefully made and thoroughly enjoyable Cava.

Vino Valencia Tasting Notes

One of the pleasures of the 1st Mostra del Cava Valencià held in Valencia at the end of November was the chance to meet old friends, both human and liquid.
Appearance: Straw coloured, with a touch of gold, integrated delicate bubbles.
Nose: Apples, apricots, soft citric notes.
Palate: A hint of sweetness in with the necessary acidity, with a touch of creaminess to the fizz to make a straightforward, balanced, eminently drinkable whole.
Tahine food thoughts: Eddie came right out with an amazing-sounding foie bon bon with fizzing “petazetas”.

Name wine: Raspay 2003

Type: Red Reserva

Winery: Bodegas Primitivo Quiles, D.O. Alicante

AVIN: 9177879526441

Used on event: Vino Valencia Wine Night at Tahine, December 16, 2009

Sold in these shops:
• Beals cash & carry – 6,85€
• Bodegas Santander – 6,85€

This wine is made from very old Monastrell vines in Monóver in the high Vinalopó valley of Alicante. It has been made in the same way for generations, with the wine fermenting in great vats under the cellar floor, before being aged in oak barrels for 12 months before being bottled without filtration.

The wine is a jolt to the system in the way that it contrasts to the contemporary emphasis on fresh fruit. But there is fruit lurking in there, along with heaps of other flavours.

It has been called a “wine nerd’s wine”, but I think it is a wine that doesn’t at all require extra effort or expertise to enjoy, it is for savouring and for food.

Robert Parker’s “Wine Advocate” has given Raspay a 90-point rating, and it is a privilege to present it at this last Vino Valencia event of 2009.

Vino Valencia Tasting Notes

Appearance: Brick-red, with a touch of ochre.
Nose: Intensely sherry-like impact, dried fruit (figs, dates), with forest fruits, cedar, a touch of cocoa, and leather.
Palate: Tastes like the earth itself, spices, a touch of clay, then dark and complex wine.
Tahine food thoughts: a brilliantly radical response to this determinedly old-fashioned (I prefer classic) wine – nuts and seafood, perhaps langoustine.

Name wine: L’Essència 2006

Type: Young red wine

Winery: Bodegas Sánchez Zahonero, D.O. Valencia

AVIN: 7147636463670

Used on event: Vino Valencia Wine Night at Tahine, December 16, 2009

Sold in these shops:
• Beals cash & carry – 8,29€
• Bodegas Santander – 8,29€
• El Mostagan – 8,75€
• La Carta des Vins – 7,95€

This is a brand new bodega, and a wine of appropriate youth and vigour. It is the first vintage produced by the young winemaker Alfonso Sánchez Zahonero, and he has set himself a high standard to maintain.

It has already won a gold medal at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, which was held in Valencia in 2009. It is also made it onto the wine list of Valencia’s very grand and Michelin-starred La Sucursal restaurant.

This Tempranillo and Syrah blend is made from grapes sourced personally by Alfonso from vineyards around his native Siete Aguas, at an altitude of over 750 metres.

The wine spends 11 months in oak casks in what is essentially Alfonso’s family’s garage. It is exciting to taste what can be achieved with youthful enthusiasm, sound winemaking training and a totally “hands-on” attention to detail. It shows again that you can make really good wine without needing to inherit a winery.

Vino Valencia Tasting Notes

Appearance: Bright, lively, intense red, leaving thick tears on the sides of the glass on swirling.
Nose: Fruits of the forest, black currant, notable presence of oak and vanilla, hint of violets.
Palate: Tight, intense fruit, almost too much initially, but opened up well, with sweet tannins coming to the fore, to give a real mouthful, combining substance and finesse.
Tahine food thoughts: Something meaty, preferably stewed.