Carpe Vinum Friday Flights! Spain’s Old Castille!
Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!
Welcome to the next stop on our never-ending tour of the world of wine with the Carpe Vinum Never-ending Tour of the World of Wine Newsletter and Announcement of the Theme for the Never-ending Tour of the World of Wine Tasting! Tomorrow for the Never-ending Tour of the World of Wine Tasting With the Seemingly Never-ending and Totally Superfluous Name it’s another of the best regions in the world of wine: Spain’s Old Castille!
Spain’s Old Castille is situated in the North-Central part of Spain, just North of Castille (New Castille, I suppose), and South of the green Galicia. The region is responsible for a number of great wines, and home to quite a few of my favorite regions in the world. The most notable regions include the quintessential and exquisite Ribera del Duero, the white wines of Rueda, the pink wines of Cigales, and the up-and-coming-and-hot-on-the-heels-of-the-Ribera-del-Duero-popularity regions of Toro and Bierzo. For the purposes of this tasting, we’ll just be focusing on the Reds. I mean . . . nothing against the whites and pinks or anything. It’s just . . .y’know . . . red wine and autumn. I think you feel the same way, right?
Anyway, we begin with the Ribera del Duero! This was the first region outside of Rioja that proved that Spain could be a major player in the worldwide wine trade. These are Tempranillo-based wines of finesse and complexity. The region is experiencing a boom right now. As a result, although many of the wines from the area weren’t cheap to begin with, there are quite a few upstart wineries offering tremendous wines at great value. I don’t recall ever having a wine from the region that I didn’t like.
Toro is neighboring Ribera del Duero just to the West, and although it also features Tempranillo as the dominant grape, the quality remains consistently good, but without the overinflated prices. This is a region that many people have their eyes on as being the next major contender. Further Northeast of there is the region of Bierzo, just outside the Galicia district of Valdeorras. This places the style of Bierzo wines somewhere between the fruity Galicia wines and the Old Castille heavy-hitters. The dominant grape is Mencia, a rather obscure varietal making wines that have been surprising critics for years.
Also featured is a wine from Castilla y Leon, which is a more generic designation for a wine that comes from outside the designated regions I’ve mentioned. Someday they may make it to their own D.O. status. But for now they’re just delicious. And good. And delicious and good. Speaking of which, here they are! It’s some of the best in the world, and some of my favorite!
So Friday, October 20th, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:
Old Castille!!!
Arrocal 2004 Ribera del Duero
Aurodos 2004 Prima, Toro
Bodegas Leda 2003 Mas de Leda, Castilla y Leon
Descendientes de J. Palacios 2005 Petalos, Bierzo
Liberalia 2004 “Tres”, Toro
More Old Castille!!!
Condado de Haza 2003 Ribera del Duero
Quinta de la Quietud 2004 Corral de Campanas, Toro
A stellar deal at $10 for the First 5, $6 for the Extra 2 Premium Pours.
Hope to see you here!
Seize the Wine!
Next Friday tasting is The Spooooky Halloween Tasting! With some live music from Pete Krebs and Tracy Kim!
M