Considering Wine

I really struggled with what to write this week. Spain kept creeping into my mind, but I didn’t want to write about Spain yet, so I tried to ignore it. Finally I decided to write about the wines I tried at two Austin wine bars this week and as it turns out my favorite one was a Spanish white. I guess I’m writing about Spain.

Historically, I’ve struggled with Spanish wines. I never cared for them, but wasn’t sure why. But to be honest, my experience was limited to maybe trying a red once or twice, not knowing what to look for, and not letting it breathe before drinking it.

Three weeks ago at Max’s Wine Dive in downtown Austin, I tried a white wine called Pampano Viura/Verdejo based on the description “Wine so bright, you gotta wear shades”. After a hot day, it seemed perfect. And it was amazing!  But I had never heard of it before.  The color was bright – and so was the taste. It was fruity, but not tart and easy to drink, though it definitely had a distinctive flavor. Bright really was the best way to describe it. I came back to it last week again at Max’s and decided that I would find out more about it.  Not having taken any notes on it, I’m including a link to a review that does a fantastic job at describing Pampano. http://wineonhigh.wordpress.com/2011/05/11/putting-rueda-on-your-radar/.

There are grapes that are native to Spain but not really found in other well-known wine regions. Verdejo and Viura are both native to Spain and are both in the Pampano (40% Verdejo, 60% Viura). The other Spanish grape that is more well-known, but still native to Spain is the Tempranillo, which is used in red wines. This is the grape that I always believed was a struggle to me.  After having my eyes opened by the Pampano, I was determined to discover whether I had been stereotyping Spanish wines by a few bad experiences and a lack of knowledge, or if it really was a wine that didn’t agree with me.

A couple things of note before I get to the wines I drank this week. Spain has 71 Denominacion de Origens (DO), which are Spain’s officially recognized wine regions. Wines from these regions must abide by specific viticultural and winemaking standards and be tasted and evaluated to guarantee its status. Spain also tends to age its wine longer than most other regions. Oftentimes, it’s not the grapes that are indicated on the bottle, it’s the time it was aged. A Crianza wine is aged for two years with a minimum of one year in oak barrels.  Reserva wines are released after three years of aging and Gran Reserve wines are aged 5-7 years with at least two years in oak barrels before being released.  Vino Joven means the wine has undergone very little wood ageing.

In the last week, I’ve tried three Spanish reds. The first was a Marques de Caceres Crianza 2007 from DO Rioja; followed by Damalisco Crianza 2007 from DO Toro; and finally Floral de Uncastellum 2009 from Tinto Joven. The first two wines were from recognized DOs. They were also both Crianza wines and both from the same vintage. The third wine was much younger and hadn’t undergone the same aging as the first two. There was a definitely quality difference between the first two and the third one. The Rioja was rich and deep, much like a French red. The Toro was walnut and vanilla and wood and mint. It reminded me of eucalyptus. The Floral de Uncastellum was also woody and clean after aerating but didn’t have the same complexity of the first two. All three of them benefitted from breathing and all three of them changed and adapted and grew through the time it took to drink the bottle.

It’s as though a light bulb has come on over my head in regards to Spanish wines. This past week has been a brief foray into this part of the world, and my experimenting with them is definitely just beginning. But I feel a lot more confident now in picking them out and knowing that they need to take time to breathe after opening to reach their potential. The aerator I picked up in Costco this week is definitely going to come in handy.