I only had a hour to spared Sept. 20 Wines from Spain tasting in Chelsea, so I imagine I probably tasted less than five percent of the wines on offer.
But that doesn't mean my visit was a waste of time. Perhaps it was dull of me, but upon arrival, knowing time was of the essence, I zoomed over to the Miguel Torres table to taste what Spain's most famous vintner had to sell. Torres' wines are not hard to find, but usually its the same one or two that pop up in wine stores, the Rhone-like mix of the Gran Sangre de Toro being the most common.
The Gran Sangre de Toro was on the table in Chelsea, but so were six others, including three whites which were all impressive in their way. The Nerola White was a mix of 80% Xarello and 20% Garnacha Blanca, offering a palate of citrus, spice and oak. The Gran Vina Sol was a New World blend of 85% Chardonnay and 15% Parellada (to keep the thing Catalonian). Full and elegant with a deep flavor profile. Finally, the Vina Esmerelda was made of 85% Moscatel and 15% Gewurztraminer, resulting in a perfumey, rich wine. The Torres family does white well.
The Torres rose DeCasta, made of Garnacha and Carinena, was also a treat, more balanced between fruit and acidity and just plain more advanced than most roses.
Other than that, I tasted a lot of Albarino, because I love Albarino, but was impressed by almost none of it. What is it with this grape? When it's good, it's great. Nothing like it. But so much of what's out there right now is indifferent and bland, with little kick or depth to it. It's disappointing.
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2 comments:
Hmmm...I had several delightful Albarinos at the tasting. I also had some refreshing Viuras and Ruedas before focusing my attention on the Tempranillo Reservas and Gran Reservas, of which there were many good ones. My only regret was that I hadn't allotted enough time to hit every table. There were so many distributors that it would have taken three hours to comfortably visit all of them. And, of course, there were the delicious tapas!
Thanks for the comment, Paul. Either you hit better tables than I did, or my standards of what makes a good Albarino have gone up. I regretted, too, that I couldn't reach every table, but I've come to the conclusion that there are so many tables at many of these events that "comfortably" visiting each table is a night impossible goal, even with five hours alloted.
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