Wine of the Week – a touch of Spanish tradition

Recently I led a tasting of wines made by Bodegas López de Heredia in Rioja – it was at the West London Wine School, check out more of their tastings here. All the wines were excellent, but even in such exalted company, some stood out from the pack. The undisputed highlights were the astonishing 1994 Viña Tondonia Gran Reservas, both red and white, which were wines of incredible finesse and beauty. As you might expect, wines of that quality and age are not cheap, but there were some stunning wines at lower prices that offered superb value for money too. I loved one of them so much that I have made it my Wine of the Week.

2005 Viña Gravonia Blanco Crianza 
Bodegas López de Heredia Viña Tondonia
DOCa / PDO Rioja
Haro
Spain

Bodegas López de Heredia was only the third bodega to be founded in Rioja after the wine revolution began there in the 1840s-1860s. They were founded in 1877, so really were at the forefront of making Rioja the great region that we know today. Rioja’s development was a slow process in truth, you can read a history of Rioja that I wrote by clicking here, it is a story worth reading as it might not quite be what you expect.

López de Heredia was founded by Don Rafael López de Heredia y Laneta and it is still owned and run by his family to this day. A visit there is always worthwhile as it widely regarded as the most traditional Rioja producer there is. Rioja actually took quite a while to develop its style and to formulate its ‘traditions’, even López de Heredia. Oak ageing was used from the beginning, it was what set Rioja apart from the rest of Spain, but the use of the terms Reserva and Gran Reserva was not established until the 1920s at the earliest and the ageing regulations were not established until the 1940s. So whether the wines are traditional or merely idiosyncratic, I couldn’t really say. I just know they are very good.

The wines are very unusual, especially the whites. They undergo long ageing in wood and develop very complex characters as a result. This ageing leads to a note of oxidation in the white wines that is not totally unlike a Fino or Manzanilla sherry. This resemblance can be over stated though, I do not really enjoy Sherry, but I love these wines, so don’t let that idea put you off.

López de Heredia’s vineyards, Viña Tondonia is contained within the loop of the Ebro River in the foreground, Viña Gravonia is just behind – photo courtesy of the winery.

They make their most famous wines from their  Tondonia vineyard, which is why Viña Tondonia forms part of the company’s name. Tondonia can be either red or white and are labelled as Reserva or Gran Reserva. They also produce red Reservas and Gran Reservas from the nearby Viña Bosconia vineyard, while their red Crianza is called Viña Cubillo and comes from the Viña Cubillas vineyard. Their white Crianzas come from the Viña Laconia vineyard and are labelled as Viña Gravonia.

Map of López de Heredia’s vineyards – courtesy of the winery.

All of these wines are aged for a lot longer in wood than the regulations require. Gran Reserva reds spend 9 years in barrel and the whites 10 years. Reservas spend 6 years in barrel, while red Crianzas are aged for 3 years in barrel and the whites for 4.

López de Heredia stick to using American oak, as is traditional in Rioja – you can read why here. However, it is American oak with a difference. They buy whole trees and ship them to Spain where they are split, seasoned outside and turned into barrels. This contrasts with American oak barrels made in America which are sawn – which cuts the grain allowing more flavour to come out – and seasoned in a kiln, which concentrates the lactones to give that creamy, sweet vanilla character so typical of American oak and Rioja. So although López de Heredia age their wines in American oak for a long time, it is a more subtle process than you might expect. Also the wines are aged for a short time in new oak before being racked into old, neutral barrels for the extended ageing.

Barrel ageing at López de Heredia – photo courtesy of the winery.

The Viña Gravonia Crianza Blanco is 100% Viura, the Tondonia whites also have 10% Malvasia to make them a little richer. It was fermented in big wooden vats with a spontaneous fermentation of the wild yeast and then aged for 4 years in barrel.

The nose is extraordinary, with that touch of Fino sherry, toasted almonds, olives, a note of the sea, honeysuckle, beeswax, gentle spice, orange pekoe tea, firm white peach, quince and orange peel. The palate is dominated by the acidity and mineral character together with cinder toffee, honeycomb, dried apricots, caramelised orange, waxy lemon and almonds. There is even a very subtle feel of tannin on the long, long finish. It is an extraordinary wine and has a little more weight, concentration and fat then the more widely available 2006 vintage – 2005 was the better year.

Try it with classic fish dishes like sole meunière, or grilled Dover sole, but I expect it would be great with just about any fish dish, anything in a creamy sauce and roast chicken too – 93/100 points.

Available in the UK for around £19 per bottle – for stockists click here.
For US stockists click here.

It won’t be for everyone, but this wine is a delicious example of a really rare style of wine. It certainly excited me at the tasting and thrilled everyone else there too. What’s more it gives an idea of what these great old style Rioja whites are like without having to pay a fortune. Do try it or a Viña Tondonia white if you can.

 

An invaluable book on winemaking – all the detail, but never dull

The beautiful vineyards of Lavaux in Switzerland.

Recently a really useful and fascinating wine book came my way and so I thought that I would share it with you.

Wine Production and Quality, 2nd Edition
Keith Grainger & Hazel Tattersall
ISBN: 978-1-118-93455-5
March 2016, Wiley-Blackwell

I am ashamed to say that I am not at all scientific. My understanding of science is pretty limited and so my love of wine is much more emotional than technical.

As a consequence I often struggle to understand the more complex aspects of wine.

For a long time now I have sought to solve this problem by finding a book that explains everything. So far my purchases have all seemed far too daunting and scientific for me to get to grips with and enjoy.

Luckily for me though, it now seems that help is at hand. Fellow Association of Wine Educators and Circle of Wine Writers members Keith Grainger and Hazel Tattersall, have recently published a book called Wine Production and Quality. It’s a handsome volume, well laid out and very readable.

Hazel Tattersall and Keith Grainger.

I say volume, but actually it is two of their previous books, Vine to Bottle and Wine Quality: Tasting and Selection, updated and brought together in a single edition.

Part 1 concerns with wine production from the vineyard to the bottling line.
So if you want to understand degree days or grasp the differences between various soil types, this book might prove useful to you,

It crams a great deal into its 300 odd pages. There are chapters, or sections, dealing with everything you need to know, from the basics to the niggly little details that everyone except me seems to understand when winemakers mention them.

This was the most useful section of the book for me and I was glad to be able to get to grips with topics like yeast nutrients, the different methods of extraction, must concentration, reverse osmosis and oxygenation, whether micro, macro or hyper. The chapter on oak certainly extended my knowledge too – for instance I had never heard of the 205 litre Pièce Champenoise and feel enriched for having now done so. Also, and I don’t really know what it says about me, but I found the section on fining, filtration and stabilisation to be strangely fascinating.

Part 2 covers the arcane art of assessing wine quality, so a large section deals with wine tasting in real detail. This would be an excellent guide for someone just starting out in wine and can even provide some good revision for the rest of us.

It goes on to study the PDO system, classifications, ISO 9001, yields and planting density, wine faults and flaws and all manner of subjects that are incredibly useful and yet it is so hard to find them defined in a straightforward way.

I feel better informed for having read the book and comforted that it is on my bookshelves ready for when I need to refer to it. What I particularly like about it is that the book is divided up into manageable bite size chunks. They are never very long, often just a single succinct paragraph and so are very east digest.

Be warned though, they are quite moreish, so it is very easy to look something up and then to find yourself reading a few other interesting nuggets of information.

Anyway, I am happy – or at least as happy as I can be post Referendum – because now I can get to grips with details of wine production that I sort of know, but want to understand in greater detail.

So, thank you Keith and Hazel, you have filled a gap in my book collection that really needed to be filled and hopefully you have also filled gaps in my knowledge to give me a better understanding of the scientific and technical aspects of wine.

I highly recommend this book if you want to get more technical in your appreciation of wine, or if you just want to be able to look up all those niggly little things that people often mention when talking about wine. I, for one, will find this book extremely useful.

Wine Production and Quality, 2nd Edition is available from Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com and Wiley-Blackwell.

 

Wine of the Week 62 – another excellent rosé for Summer

Esk Valley Estate The Terraces vineyard. Photo courtesy of the winery.

I don’t really hold with the view that rosé is only nice in Summer. Some rosés really do lend themselves to being drunk with more wintery food, but even I enjoy drinking most rosés in better weather, preferably on a sun-drenched terrace  – it seems to encapsulate the feeling of Summer.

Ever since the weather became a little warmer and the sun a bit brighter I have been trying a good few rosé wines  and I have tasted some really superb examples – like this Australian one here. 

They have come from all over the place too, South Africa, Chile, Argentina, Italy, Australia, Bordeaux, the Loire, Burgundy and of course Champagne, but one of my recent favourites has been this deliciously full-flavoured rosé from New Zealand. I liked it so much that I have made it my Wine of the Week.

Esk Valley Estate
Hawke’s Bay
New Zealand

Esk Valley is a stand alone part of the Villa Maria group of wineries that is a specialist boutique winery making some of New Zealand’s finest red wines – although their whites are pretty good too. The guiding light here is winemaker Gordon Russell, who is widely recognised as one of New Zealand’s finest. Londoners have a rare opportunity to taste his wines and to hear what he has to say at a tutored tasting on 25 September 2015 – click here for details.

Gordon Russell at Esk. Photo courtesy of the winery.

This rosé is a blend of 34% Merlot, 33% Malbec and 33% Cabernet Sauvignon grown in New Zealand’s most important red wine region, Hawke’s Bay. The colour comes from skin contact – as is traditional, but becoming more rare in New Zealand – which gives a little touch of tannin too, which nicely balances the fresh acidity.

The colour is gorgeous with a deep cherry / salmon hue with touches of orange too. The nose is lifted and vibrant with cherry, redcurrant and blood orange. The palate has fresh red fruit and acidity – strawberry and cherry – a twist of orange and a nice dusting of spices. This is an unusually rich and complex rosé with a creamy ripe texture and some lovely weight that lifts it above many of its peers.

The weight makes it excellent with lamb, but the freshness makes it equally enjoyable with chicken or fish, while the fruitiness makes it delicious to drink on its own as an aperitif – 90/100 points.

Available in the UK for around £10.00 per bottle from Woodwinters Wines & Whiskies Ltd, The New Zealand House of Wine, Amps Fine Wines, Central Vintners, Kingsgate Wines and Islington Wine.

 

Proper Wine Storage A Liberating Feeling

 What to do with my wine?

For a long time I have agonised over my wine storage. I have a sizeable collection of bottles built up over 30 years, but hardly ever drink it, so storing it is a headache frankly. I know, first world problems!

The space is one issue and how to store it properly another. I have tried all sorts of things over the years and even toyed with building a cellar a couple of times, but costs have always been impossible.

The West London Wine School

Well help is finally at hand as I live in London and do much of my teaching at the West London Wine School in Fulham. The school is actually housed in the Big Yellow Wine Cellars, which is the only purpose built self storage wine facility in the country as far as I am aware. It is beneath the Big Yellow Storage in Fulham and is a wonderful installation. There I was looking at these wine storage units day after day before the penny finally dropped – I should get one of those.

So I did. Now my wine is perfectly stored at just the right constant temperature and out of my way, which is a wonderfully relaxing feeling. If you have lots of wine and live near London I really do recommend it for peace of mind – mention my name.