Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

Buenos Dias! Or if it’s night when you read this, Buenos Noches! Or if you’re on vacation when you read this, Buenos Aires! Welcome to the Muy Caliente and Muy Bueno and Muy . . . uhh . . . Magnifico Carpe Vinum Newsletter and Tasting Announcement! If you can’t tell by my awful, awful attempt at Spanish we’re tasting wines from Spain this week. And it’s not just any-ol’ Spain! Were pitting the wines of the world-famous and classic Spanish region of Rioja against the relatively-newer, up-and-coming but super-stylin’ Ribera del Duero! It’s a wine battle between two of Spain’s heaviest hitters!

The reigning champion: Rioja! It’s the most famous of the Spanish wine regions which many put on par with France’s Bordeaux. The wines of Bordeaux and Rioja aren’t similar, mind you, but I suppose by History and reputation they are. There is, however, a direct link from winemaking styles brought to Rioja from Bordeaux. In fact, Rioja was the main supplier of wine to the thirsty Frenchmen when the all the French vineyards were destroyed by Phylloxera. This was a boon to the Rioja wine trade. That is, until the Rioja vineyards were wiped out by phylloxera. Perhaps that’s another story. Long story short, though, Rioja is the oldest (Est. 1926) and most famous of the Spanish wine regions making Tempranillo-based wines through years of tradition and reputation.

Enter the challenger: Ribera del Duero! It’s situated Southwest of Rioja down into Spain’s Old Castile area. Although the secrets of this wonderful wine region had been discovered in the mid-1800s (if you’ve heard of Vega Sicilia) the region was not established as a Spanish D.O. until 1982. Enter into the scene Alejandro Fernandez (if you’ve heard of Pesquera or Condado de Haza) who was set out to prove that wines other than Vega Sicilia could compete in the region. Boy was he right! Long story short on that one, everyone else thought it was a good idea too. So the wine scene there exploded. (Well, not literally. That would be a bad thing.) They also make Tempranillo-based wines that can be meaty and austere as well as bright and fruity and explosive (Not literally. That would be a bad thing).

So for the selection I thought it a good idea to explore the Spanish wine ageing designations as well. You may wonder just what the heck I am talking about. It’s easy, though. The Spanish have different terms for how long a wine is aged in oak. The 4 designations are, in order from least time to most time: Joven (little to no oak), Crianza (six months to a year), Reserva (at least 12 months), and Gran Reserva (at least 18 months). Each of those designations also has an increasing scale of how long a bottle must be aged at the winery. As a result, the pricing is also an increasing scale, considering it’s like paying rent for the wine to stay at the winery that long.

Keeping this in mind, we’re doing a straight comparison of Rioja to Ribera del Duero in the categories of Joven, Crianza and Reserva. The “Gran Rerserva” category is a bit more difficult, though. I found one affordable Gran Reserva from Rioja, but was unable to find an affordable one from Ribera del Duero. I found some pretty-much-unaffordable ones, the first priced at about $140 and the other about $190. Perhaps someday. In the place of a Gran Reserva Ribera del Duero we’re filling out the Extra-Extra pour slot with a fancy-schmancy, highly-rated, super-duper Ribera del Duero. And yes, this pour is still the charity pour for Cystic Fibrosis! I can’t think of a tastier way to support a cause! Unless it includes chocolate . . . hmm . . . I’ll see what I can do.

So Friday, March 9th, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

Rioja vs. Ribera del Duero!!!
Altun 2004 Albiker (Joven), Rioja
Vina y Tia 2004 Quintanal (Joven), Ribera del Duero
Amezola de la Mora 2001 Vina Amezola Crianza, Rioja
Montebaco 2001 Pago Senda Misa Crianza, Ribera del Duero
Vina Mayor 2000 Reserva, Ribera del Duero

Round Two!!
Bodegas Saenz de Santamaria 1996 Reserva, Rioja
Bodegas Palacio 1998 Glorioso Gran Reserva, Rioja

And the Uber-Special, A-Bit-More-Expensive Pour For CF!!!
Alonso de Yerro 2004 Maria del Yerro, Ribera del Duero
(Robert Parker gave it 96 points, if you follow that kind of thing.)

A stellar deal at $10 for the First 5, $6 for the Extra 2 Premium Pours, and $5 for the Charity Pour.
Hope to see you here!

Seize the Wine!

Next Friday tasting is Petite Sirah! By any other name is . . . uh . . . Durif?

M