Enjoying pre dinner drinks

Restaurant Abiss in Calpe was the venue for the October tasting which on this occasion was a Past Presidents Selection.   The Abiss is becoming one of the Society’s favoured venues, despite its restriction on numbers which makes it a member’s only occasion, because of the excellent food and this time was no exception.

Previously Past Presidents have selected whatever wine they wished.   This time however the President, Tim Fawle, ruled that he wished those presenting reds, to choose a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, that year being an excellent harvest.   Little did he appreciate what a challenge he was presenting?   Not only are there very few Monovarietal (100%) Spanish Cabernet Sauvignons, but because 2010 was such a good year most had been sold out.

However first came the whites and in the spirit of the President’s ruling for the reds, Andrew Johnson decided to select Sauvignon Blanc, the grape of Sancerre, Bordeaux Blancs and New Zealand Malboroughs.   He presented two wines from the same age, same region and same alcohol content with the aim of drawing a comparison between them.   The first was a Montespina Sauvignon Blanc 2014 from Bodegas Avelino Vegas in the DO Rueda.  Yellow in colour with soft green shades, the wine is clean and bright. On the nose it is subtle, has intense flowery aromas together with tropical hints.   On the palate it is very fresh and full of flowery and fruity flavours. Long lasting. It has an alcohol by volume (ABV) of 13%, costs 7.70€ from Vinoteca in Calpe and was awarded 89 points by Enterwine.   Members gave it an average of 86.9.

The second wine with which comparison was to be made was Finca Colina Sauvignon Blanc 2014 from bodega Viñedos Sanz, which has a long history as the oldest winery in DO Rueda.   The wine, made from the oldest vines of the winery is a pale yellow, brilliant white wine, with intense aromas and full and unctuous on the palate.   Slightly glycerous with just the right acidic bite it is pleasantly long lasting.  The wine costs 14.80€ from Vinoteca, Calpe, has an ABV of 13%, received 91 points in the Guía Peñín and 88.8 from members.

The first of the red wines was presented by Gordon Sellars, but before he spoke about the wine he gave an informative talk about the grape Cabernet Sauvignon, tracing its development and acceptance world wide.   He also explained the link and association between Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc.   The wine he offered for tasting was Finca Antigua Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 from the bodega of that name in DO La Mancha, the largest delimited wine region not only in Spain, but the whole of Europe.   It is a winery which the Society has visited on at least two previous occasions.   The wine is cherry red with a garnet rim and has balsamic and fragrant herbs on the nose.   On the palate it is powerful, flavoursome and spicy with soft tannins as a result of its 9 months in American Oak.   With an ABV of 13.5% the wine gets 87 points and excellent value for money from the Guía Peñín and can be purchased directly from the bodega at a cost of 5.95€. Members awarded an average of 86.9 points                                                                                              

Raimat in the DO of Costres de Segre is also a bodega which the Society has visited a couple of times and it was from this bodega that Gaby Ferenczy presented the second wine; Castell del Raimat Cabernet Sauvignon 2010.   Raimat makes all its wines from grapes from its own estate.   Most of the vineyards are designed for mechanical harvesting which is done at night and it takes only an average of 18 minutes to get the grapes to the press.   Once alcoholic fermentation was completed the wine was separated from the skins and is then aged for two years.   The wine is a deep red with violet hues.   It has a powerful aroma of wild berries such as black cherry and blackberries with a hint of vanilla and chocolate.   It is an elegant full bodied velvety wine with a pleasant and long aftertaste.   The wine costs 11.21€ from Casa del Vino in Jávea, it has an ABV of 13% and the 2009 vintage received 88 points from the Guía Peñín while members gave the 2010 89 points.

Finally Keith Pacey produced the pick of the bunch, a Marques de Griñon, Pago de la Familia in the DO of Dominio de Valdepusa from the region of Castilla de la Mancha.    Aged for 12 months in used and new French Allier oak barrels the wine has a limited production of 18,600 bottles all numbered.   The grapes for this very special wine have been hand selected and picked almost on a vine per vine basis with the aim to preserve all the character that the single estate terroir has to offer.   In the glass the wine has a deep purple colour, on the nose intense aromas of black cherries, wild red fruits and spices with notes of cinnamon, tobacco and chocolate. On the palate it expands to reveal a full bodied wine with outstanding depth of fruit, well-structured with round soft tannins.   The wine scores 93 points in the Guía Peñín, costs 22.45€ and has an ABV of 14.5%.  Members awarded the wine 92.2 points.

The Vice President, John Sloggie proposed a vote of thanks to the four Past Presidents for their presentations.

Society members enjoying dinner and the tasting

Text by Gaby Ferenczy and photographs by Margaret and Gaby Ferenczy                                                                                                                                                               October 2015