I'm having a great time at Wine Future in Rioja, Spain. It's the second and final day of the conference. I'm writing this up from the cafe in the basement, which I wish I'd discovered earlier.
There is a show floor where they are pouring wines from all around the world.
There are too many wines for me to try them all so I've asked Alvaro from Abadia Retuerta to help me by highlighting some of his favorites:
Fine wood, great dark fruit background on a firm but gentle structure
Stands out for its singularity and ripeness
An architecturally fantastic fresh wine made by great winemaker Delfi Sanahuja
And the fantastic wines from Dr. Loosen... what "sweet terroir" wines!
Yesterday it was whispered in my ear by Carlos de "corks can do no wrong" Jesus, that the South of France "delegation" was pouring a wine from 1925.
I found it yesterday, and it was good, but not great. I chalked it up mainly to having been too warm.
Today I tried it again - not having the opportunity to drink wines from 1925 all the time - and it was incredible, even though it was the same temperature. Sweet and wonderful, with a complexity that could only come after eighty or so years of aging.
The person manning the booth admitted that yesterday's bottle had been bad. Such is the danger of buying an eighty year bottle of wine. Especially since the retail cost must be, in this case, around $450 (a bargain, by the way, if you get a good bottle!)
Let me second Alvaro's recommendation for Dr. Loosen. You really, really have to like sweet wines to appreciate this one. Luckily I do! It's just on the edge of too sweet, but for me never becomes too cloying. Awesome!
These guys are bringing a "white revolution" to the Rioja. Including what they say is the first Riesling ever to be grown in Rioja. It's really good, and seems like a natural for the region. Would be a great wine to start any meal with. Just a hint of sweetness, and a bit of acidity, both in balance. It should be on the market in March of 2010, but I'm not sure if it will make the United States. 4000 Bottles. Around $10.
I tasted every single wine in the Chilean booth (okay, so there were only six or so - not much of a hardship). This was my favorite wine in the booth. A very good demonstration of the beauty that is Carmenere.
The lower end Caremeneres from Concha y Toro are something that I often have over dinner at my house. It's always nice to have a higher end one to see just what this grape is capable of. And at around $30 it's still a bargain.
The rather amazing Lisa Perrotti-Brown was nice enough to point out the Seppeltsfield booth to me yesterday, but I didn't taste them because I wanted to be fresh for the Robert Parker tasting later that day.
Today I got to them and they were as impressive as Lisa had hinted at. In particular I loved their port, made up of a bit of each vintage from 1878 onwards. Around $300.
And then there is the 1909. Named after the vintage the bottle contains, it is thick, wonderful, and nuanced as only a 100 year old wine can be. Primarily Mourvedre with perhaps a bit of Grenache and Shiraz. Around $300 for a very small bottle or $1000 for a larger one.
