What I'm Excited About This Week: Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition!
I'm sure I've said this before, but I really enjoy a tasting that feels more like a multi-course dinner than just a straightforward tasting. Our Buyer Rachael Ryan really puts together a nice tasting that has this kind of complete feel. We started off last week’s Spanish and Portuguese tasting with the super classic and super delicious Mas Codina Cava Brut Reserva Penedès $13.99, one of my favorite bottles of bubbles when I don’t want to spend the money for Champagne. It’s still made in the traditional Méthode Champenoise and is a delicious clean and crisp style of sparkling wine. It's fantastic.
We also tried something new to me, the 2022 Raventós i Blanc "de Nit" Rosé Conca del Riu Anoia $25.99, which was lovely. It was crisp and refreshing with a pretty pink from Monastrell aka Mataro aka Mourvèdre, a fantastic and slightly underrated grape. We tried a fizzy guy, the 2024 Avinyó Petillant Penedès $19.99, which is everything you want from this type of wine: a bit of fizz and a lower alcohol so that you can get through a couple of bottles easily. Seafood would be a great pairing; some fresh cheeses might do super well; and just a wine glass seems like a perfect pairing.
We had a couple more serious Vinho Verde wines—they're not fizzy and they have a slightly higher but still reasonable alcohol at 12.5% ABV. The 2024 Mendes & Symington "Contacto" Loureiro Vinho Verde $21.99 92WA and 2024 Soalheiro Alvarinho Vinho Verde Monção e Melgaço $22.99 97DC were great. Both had amazing acidity and a lot of nice stone fruit along with copious citrus, exactly what you want when it's warm or you're having something really rich.
Another highlight of the tasting was the 2023 Jose Pariente Verdejo Rueda $18.99 92PG 92TA, which was really nice with tons of grapefruit and more stone fruit and some delicate floral touches that made it prettier than I thought it would be at first whiff. I always appreciate when my preconceptions get trashed by the wine. Then we went into the wacky with 2024 Vinos del Viento "Amber" Moscatel $19.99, a really interesting orange-y natural-y wine that is a lot like drinking flowers in a way that I’m pretty darn alright with.
We went through a cavalcade of reds as well—some of them highlighted below in my tip-top picks—and we rounded the whole thing out with some sweet treats at the end. There was a surprisingly nice Sandeman Fine Tawny Port $19.99, which is young enough that it still has some red to its color. It tasted better than most things I've had that were just labeled as "Fine." For those who are not into a Tawny Port, please allow me to also suggest the Rare Wine Company "Historic Series - New York" Malmsey Madeira $55.99 96JS, which has a very similar sweetness level, but is nuttier and has a nice acid bump in the middle of the palate that helps lower the overall richness and make it more accessible as a sipper, in my occasionally humble opinion.
Last but not least, we finished with my new favorite dessert sherry, Cesar Florido Moscatel Especial Chipiona $21.99. It is exceptional and easy to drink. I do like a nice sweet PX, and I love it on my Scotch Whisky, but I find this drier version of sherry more versatile.
More details descriptions of my top picks:
2024 Mendes & Symington "Contacto" Loureiro Vinho Verde $21.99 92WA This might not be what you're typically thinking of when you think of Vinho Verde. There's no playful spritz, and it's a bit higher alcohol than what you might expect (but still a relatively moderate 12.5% ABV). The nose has a lot of lemon, but also stone fruit, both white peach and something that leans towards apricot. The palate is bright and fruity and deliciously crisp, with a wonderful line of acid pushing through the whole palate while the fruit is peach and lemon with a touch of pithiness on the finish. This is lovely and a delicious bottle of white wine. There's definitely some tartness there but it's refreshing while somehow pushing up against medium bodied, with an impressive depth and lingering semi-saline river rock finish. Fantastic.
2024 Vinos del Viento "Amber" Moscatel $19.99 I don't always know what to think about natural wines or orange wines—but I love a challenge. And, while this is definitely a bit weird, it’s very clean and fresh. The nose is quite floral, a bit like a tea made of potpourri in a way that is good and a bit alluring. The palate is fairly similar, though there's some fruit underneath all those floral notes, something a bit like golden kiwi and honeyed white grape. It surprised me how much I enjoyed it; and, while yes natural and yes orange, it's not funky or flawed. I want to have this with some slightly aged goat cheese or any other fresh, soft cheese. Beyond that, my best advice is to have a bottle of this with your friends while you all try to describe what you're tasting, because this is definitely a little bonkers in a very fun and surprisingly approachable way.
2023 Antidoto Ribera del Duero $25.99 95JD There's something savory buried in the nose, a bit like a promise of something to come later—but we'll find out together. There's something very blue about the fruit on the nose, like a ripe blueberry. Underneath that there’s black fruit, and tarry leather and herbs. The palate has savory elements, with pretty blue and black fruits and a bit of red cherry and bitter green herbs towards the finish before more tarry notes come in. A hint of barrel spice along adds some roundness. The tannins are firm but not super grippy; they are rather fine and well integrated. Overall the mouthfeel is lush and luxurious. I want to have this with something grilled; that kiss of the flame would pair perfectly with this wine. Yum yum.
2023 Teso La Monja "Romanico" Toro $21.99 92JD I'm not sure I've ever had a Toro wine before, so that makes this extra fun. I enjoy that they label the grape Tinto de Toro instead of Tempranillo—it's shows a confidence that I find really amusing. The nose on this is bright with lots of pretty fruit and a flowing floral note drifting through the whole thing. The fruit is bright red cherry, Tayberry, and slightly underripe blackberry. It's more of a compote than distinct and individual aromas. The palate is bright with an elevated acidity that tones down the very slightly grippy tannins. The fruit is pretty with cranberry, raspberry, pomegranate, and a bit of something inkier like blackberry around the very edges of my tongue during the lingering finish. This is fresh and bright while also having a little bite of a grip and a touch of savory notes on the finish that'll help this pair with more and more dishes. I would have this with a lighter steak or a nice double-cut porkchop.
2022 Raúl Pérez "Ultreia St-Jacques" Mencía Bierzo $21.99 93WA Despite the less than inky color, this wine smells fairly inky and dark. There's a dustiness to it that I'm finding really appealing. The fruit is black with touches of red, blackberry and black currant, with cranberry skin without the implied crunchiness. There's savoriness with a touch of something meaty towards the mid-nose and towards the end, plus some fig notes. The palate is incredibly enjoyable, first from a textural standpoint—a fantastic mouthfeel and the finest most integrated tannins cradling the fruit. The fruit on the palate is rich but not as inky or dark as the nose wanted you to think it would be. There's freshness there and the acidity keeps the whole thing moving along properly. Towards the end there are herby notes and a lingering toasty fruit note. Really delicious and another amazingly priced bottle that overdelivers big time. Big. Time.
Cesar Florido Moscatel Especial Chipiona $21.99 This is a pretty pretty pretty dessert wine—you may not be able to tell how delicate it is by looking at its rich brown color. This is a sherry and is made with a fun process that involves boiling some of the juice to concentrate it, pouring it back into the very low alcohol (2%) wine, then fortifying it in the end. The nose is floral with brown sugar and caramel showing through, along with a brighter fruit that is hard to put my finger on. It finishes with a touch of black tea. The palate is pretty much what I've always thought kissing an angel would be like—it's sweet and floral and there's this kind of blackstrap molasses meets dried fruit note in the very finish that really ties the whole palate together. This is a fantastic dessert wine and really is sweet enough to pair with most desserts that you might bring to the table. I would serve this more with cake than pie, but poured over some vanilla ice cream this would be insanely good also.
This weekend we have a nice and very accessible Spanish tasting put together by Rachael that is going to feature some of the wines that I mentioned here and some new ones that you'll get to learn about. It’s on Saturday, September 13th, the price of admission is just $15, and you get to taste six thoughtfully hand-picked wines. Make sure to check out the K&L Local Events page for more information and a link to our Tock page to buy tickets ahead of time.