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More Spanish Table Wines
The Lay of the
land...Backgrounder on Spain's Wine Regions
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- MARQUÉS DE MURRIETA
 This old, amazing property came up for sale some years ago and it was
purchased by Vicente Cebrián-Sagarriga, who ended up selling his holdings in radio
stations to be able to buy this historic winery. Cebrián-Sagarriga died a few years ago and
the winery is run by his young son, Vicente Jr.
Located just on the outskirts of Logroño, the have something like 300 hectares of vineyards which supply all their needs.
The cellar is full of barrels, some 13,000 of them. The winery has produced
wines under an old label called "Castillo Ygay," which are "Gran
Reserva" quality.
We met an old cellar man who was skeptical of the new owner's
commitment to continue producing grand and glorious wines. He seemed to be won over,
however, after a few years under the new owners.
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 Their
wines used to be imported by a national liquor company. When that firm
lost interest in selling wine, Murrieta disappeared from the market.
It had been probably 5 years since we've seen a new vintage.
They're back in the market, finally and we bought some bottles of their new
vintages. The 2000 Castillo Ygay is good, but I felt the 2004
"Reserva" was more compelling, as well as being more modestly
priced. Now we're on to the next vintage and it's showing well.
The 2005 vintage is very good. The blend is 84% Tempranillo, 13% Garnacha and 3% Mazuelo. It was matured in new and seasoned
American oak barrels. The wood is noticeable, but it doesn't dominate
the wine. It's about as good a $25 bottle as you'll find
these days.
We also have a remarkable 1978 Gran Reserva Especial under the Castillo
Ygay label.
Only ten vintages have been bottled (so far) from the 20th
Century, the 1978 being the most recent offering. The blend is 75%
Tempranillo, 10% Garnacha, 12% Mazuelo and 3% Graciano. This was matured for 216
MONTHS(!) in in American oak barrels. Yes...18 years in
wood.
We brought a bottle of this to share with wine drinking friends in Milano and it
was the wine of the night. Totally amazing. We recently shared the
bottle pictured above with a friend at a Spanish dinner in San Francisco.
The wine was older than our waiter and he was delighted to taste such a
remarkably complex wine.
We set up the wine with a dry Cava (sparkling wine) and a fruity, non-wooded red
from Spain's Priorat. The contrast between those and the 1978 Castillo
Ygay is remarkable. Despite all the time in wood, the wine still retains
an amazing level of fruit. Of course, there's a woodsy aspect to the
bouquet...nicely acidic, too. Suffice it to say this is a rare treat.
- Currently available: Marqués de Murrieta
2005 Rioja Reserva $24.99
- 1978 Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva
Especial Sale $219.99
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TELMO RODRIGUEZ WINES
 We've
known Telmo Rodriguez since he was affiliated with his family's winery in Rioja
ages ago. This was before global warming, for example.
Telmo motors throughout Spain and has wines all around the
countryside.
He's a brilliant winemaker and quite passionate about wine quality.
We have a couple of his wines in stock presently...they're quite good and
reasonably priced, unlike some of his wines which are quite good and priced for
folks with fat wallets.
We've been fans of his Toro wine called Gago. You'll notice the
letter "g" on the bottle has a bull-like horn. Very clever.
Telmo is a big fan of the old Tinta de Toro vines in the Toro region of western
Spain. He makes a terrific wine, capturing plenty of fruit and seasoning
it with just the right amount of oak. Part of the vintage is matured in
small oak and part in large wood.
The 2005 was in stock...medium-full bodied and quite nice to drink now...but
sold out.
 We've had a number of
vintages of Telmo's Rueda wine called Basa. The 2007 is marvelous, showing
some citrusy tones, but with an underlying minerality which reminds us of some
good Sancerre wines.
It's predominantly Verdejo, with a small addition of 10% Viura and 5% of
Sauvignon Blanc. No oak...nice and dry...perfect as a cocktail white (it
'sets up' good reds magnificently, as the contrast makes the reds taste
"like a million bucks") and it's delicious with seafood.
- Currently in stock: 2005 GAGO Toro Sold Out
2007 BASA Rueda Blanco $11.99
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BERONIA Beronia is a
winery founded in the 1970s and sold to a large Sherry company, Gonzalez
Byass, makers of Tio Pepe and some fantastically good Sherries...
The original plan was to produce Reserva and Gran Reserva wines. Under
Gonzalaez Byass' ownership, though, the Beronia brand makes the entire range
of Rioja wines.
I bought some bottles in 2008 and didn't find anything of particular
interest. Recently arrived, however, is a 2004 vintage Reserva and
this is worthy of our attention.
The wine is matured in a curious barrel. The staves are made of the
typical American oak used in many cellars in Spain. But the barrel
'heads' are actually French wood!
We like the woodsy aspect of the 2004 Reserva. It shows nice fruit and
the oak we like in typical Rioja reds. It's 90% Tempranillo, 4%
Graciano and 6% Mazuelo. It really is showy if you set it up with a
glass of Cava or a non-oaked white...
Currently in stock: 2004 BERONIA Rioja Reserva $17.99-
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- BODEGAS MONTECILLO
- Purchased some years ago by the large Sherry and brandy producer
Osborne, Montecillo wines are well thought of in Spain. Their Rioja winery is
located in Fuenmayor in a cellar constructed around 1975. While many properties in
Spain use American oak, Montecillo uses a high percentage of French oak. Their basic
red is called Viña Cumbrero. It is a moderately spicy red with the oak being not
especially noticeable. The Reserva is called Via Monty and this is matured in
French oak.
We have some wonderful old Gran Reservas from
Montecillo and these are excellent wines which I bring out for special occasions.
We recently acquired a few bottles from their new importer, each bottle
being rather recently labeled by the winery and shipped, I guess, sometime
in 2005 or 2006.
Montecillo makes a standard dry white and an ordinary rosado. The current 1991
Reserva and 1989 Gran Reserva wines were both disappointments. Now I can add the
1995 Reserva to this list, too.
- Currently available:
- Special order for the new releases...odd bottles of old Gran
Reservas are in stock.
- MARQUÉS DE RISCAL
 Still owned, apparently, by the heirs of the founder, Camilo
Hurtado de Amzaga, this old-time property experienced a period of decline during the
mid-1970s until the mid-1980s. We'd been disappointed for many years. I
suppose the stinging criticism of their wines caused some soul searching and investment in
the cellar, when they purchased a slew of new cooperage. We had a wonderful visit
to the cellar in 1995, tasting their Sauvignon Blanc from nearby Rueda, along with a lovely
red Reserva. Not to mention an ancient, well-stored vintage from the
1950s!
Over the past decade they've built a fancy hotel and restaurant facility on
the property. It's one of those 'luxury' hotels where a low-end room
will set you back about $450-$550 a night!
-
 
Riscal has launched a
special, old-vines cuvee called Baron de Chirel. As the original vineyards were
planted with some Cabernet Sauvignon, Riscal is allowed to incorporate Cabernet into its
wines and still label them as "Rioja." This is not the case for wineries
wishing to plant Cabernet today. This situation will probably change in the coming
years.
- We taste each and every vintage of their 'regular' bottling and these are
usually nice, but we don't stock them presently...no problem to order them
for you, though.
 The 1999
Gran Reserva, on the other hand, is a magnificent bottle. The wine is
85% Tempranillo (from vines older than 30 years), 10% Graciano and 5%
"other." It's been matured in American oak barrels for
2-and-a-half years, or so, before being bottle-aged prior to its release.
The color is medium-dark ruby and it offers a lovely bouquet of sweet,
woodsy oak. On the palate the wine is fairly full without being
heavy. The tannins are balanced with the fruit, so it's fairly supple,
especially with food. I opened a bottle with friends and heard a lot
of "oohs" and "aahs".
- Currently available: 1999 RISCAL Rioja Gran
Reserva Sold Out
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- PROTOCOLO
 The Eguren
family has several wineries around Spain, making quite a range of
wines.
If you want stupidly-priced, highly-scoring wines, they make some. All
the wine geeks have their credit cards ready to pay several hundred dollars
for a bottle of the latest, inky, lavishly-oaked wine because it 'scored'
well in a beauty contest.
On the other hand, if you're looking for a bottle of wine to drink, the new
vintage of Protocolo is rather nice. It's a Tempranillo without a
forest full of oak. It's not inky dark in color and it doesn't have
ten years' worth of tannin.
We have this sale-priced and even with the weak dollar, it's a remarkably
good value.-
- Currently in stock: 2007 PROTOCOLO (list $9) SALE
$6.49
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CASA CASTILLO
 This
estate in Spain's Jumilla region was originally planted in the 1870s when
the phylloxera root louse was on the rampage in France. The property
fell into disuse and only during World War II was it purchased...but not
for winemaking! The owner was going to cultivate massive amounts of
rosemary (given all the lamb they eat in Spain, it was probably a feasible
idea at the time).
In 1985 someone had the novel idea of returning the property to its
winemaking glories and in 1991 they renovated the cellars. By 1993
they were ready to make wine.
Monastrell, as you see on their label, is the Spanish name for France's Mourvèdre
grape. We have had a few vintages of Casa Castillo's wine in the
shop over the past decade, or so. We stopped carrying the wine some
years ago when it became, in our view, unbalanced and too astringent or
coarse.
We tasted the 2007 vintage and it's probably the best example of Casa
Castillo Monastrell to date. Balanced, too. Of course, the
vines are older and more mature, but we suspect so is the
winemaker.
The wine is made entirely of Monastrell and the vines are now about 25
years old. We did not ask how old the winemaker is, though.
The vines are dry-farmed and head-pruned. They try to leave the
berries "whole" in the fermentation tank and this is the secret
of this wine. It retains a tremendously raspberryish character on
the nose and palate. They don't do a prolonged skin contact, finding
they get plenty of color and character with a week on the skins.
The wine is then matured in seasoned French and American oak. You
won't find much evidence of wood in the wine, however...it's bright,
fruity and ready to drink right now. We suggest serving it cooled to
cellar temp (an hour in the 'fridge works nicely).
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Currently in stock: 2007 CASA CASTILLO Monastrell
$10.99
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