Our tasting of Spanish reds uncovered sound examples of wines across a broad spectrum of styles. Panellist Steve Smith summed it up: “This tasting showed how Spanish wine is at the crossroads. Wines of freshness and modern style made an interesting counterpoint to those of solid

traditional personality.” Panel chair John Belsham agreed. “They’re wines for different moods,” he said. “If you want something juicy, fresh and wild, go for the grenaches; if you’re after drier, more tannic, traditional wines, try the tempranillos.” Viva Espagna!

The Tasting panel The Bordeaux blends panel of John Belsham, Ralph Kyte-Powell and Steve Smith MW also reviewed the Spanish entries.

Palacios Remondo La Montesa 2007 $36.90 (Rioja) -4
State-of-the-art modern Rioja from Alvaro Palacios, a well-known “new wave” Spanish winemaker. The perfect companion to a Spanish hotpot of braised lamb and chickpeas, it has an earthy, savoury nose of spice, berries, dried herbs and leather. A blend of 60 per cent garnacha (grenache), tempranillo and mazuelo. [C]

Acústic 2008 $38-$43 (Montsant) 1-4
From the Montsant region of Catalonia, Acústic is a garnacha-carignan blend of good character and balance. The Catalan dish roast duck with figs finds harmony here. It’s a plummy, rich style with earthy and toasty notes adding complexity, and good length. [E]

Borsao Selección 2009 $21.95-$23.95 (Campo de Borja) -1
Made mainly from garnacha, with a smaller proportion of syrah and tempranillo, this young red from Aragon flirts with oxidation on the nose, yet dominant berry fruit and floral scents save the day. A drink-now proposition with Spanish-accented smallgoods and crusty bread. [F]

Carchelo C 2009 $18-$20 (Murcia) -4
Made from monastrell, tempranillo and cabernet sauvignon, this wine’s catchy label typifies the modern Spanish vogue for fashion statements on the bottle. Cocoa, raspberry and inky aromas lead through to a palate with good ripeness, a soft middle and a dry signature to finish. [B]

Conde de Valdemar Rioja Crianza 2006 $25-$27 (Rioja) -2
Rioja is Spain’s most famous red wine and this tempranillo (90 per cent)
example comes from one of the region’s largest wine estates. It’s an aged, traditional style with plenty of vanillin oak, rustic farmyard notes, and dark fruit characters at the core. Try it with hearty traditional empanadas. [D]

Luis CaÑas Rioja Crianza 2007 $27-$30 (Rioja) -2
Tempranillo dominates in this modern Rioja to give a very distinctive Spanish identity – raspberry, spice and earthy notes, attractive texture and good fruit concentration. Serve it with a rustic casserole of potatoes, onions, pork and chorizo. Olé! [A]

Palacios Remondo La Vendimia 2009 $24.90 (Rioja) -2
A young, very lightly oaked Rioja made from 50-50 garnacha and tempranillo. Aromas of raspberries, spice, aniseed and earth introduce a smooth, easy-to-quaff wine, with good intensity of straightforward, juicy flavour and a soft finish. Fresh reds like this do well with game and wild mushroom paella. [C]

Torres Ibéricos Crianza Tempranillo 2007 $27-$29 (Rioja) -1
The nose of this traditionally styled Rioja tempranillo offers aromas of sweet leather woven through the vanilla and coconut touches that come from smoothly applied American oak. While not Rioja in the modern fashion, it does have real presence with long flavour and a balanced dry finish. [B]

SPANISH LABELS
The language of the label on any wine bottle is a guide to what’s inside the bottle and Spanish wine is no exception. Here are the more commonly seen terms and their meanings.

blanco > white wine
rosado > rosé wine
tinto and rojo > red wine
dulce > sweet
nuevo > young wine less than 12 months old
vino de la tierra and vino de mesa > simple everyday table wine
joven > wine with little or no wood ageing, or wine of the current vintage
crianza > wine aged in oak for at least six months and in bottle for a year before release at two years old
anejo > wine aged for at least three years
Gran Reserva > red wine aged for at least 24 months in oak casks and another 36 months in bottle.
Denominación de Origen (DO) > indicates that the wine is made according to strictly enforced rules to guarantee its regional identity and quality
Denominación de Origen Calificada (DOCa) > a higher-quality grading
of DO wine
cava > sparkling wine produced by bottle fermentation
bodega > cellar or winery
barrica > an oak barrel

To source wines listed, contact the distributor (indexed by letter). [A] Epicurean Wine Brokers, ph: 0800-765 000 [B] EuroVintage, ph: 0800-338 766 [C] Glengarry, ph: 0800-733 505 [D] Negociants NZ, ph: 09-531 5222 [E] St Vincent’s Cave, ph: 09-550 6908 [F] Vintners NZ, ph: 09-621 0210

TASTING NOTES Tasting method All wines are tasted blind. If, after discussion, the tasters do not agree on a star rating, the wine will receive the rating given by the majority but dissenting comments will be included in the wine notes. The scores of winemaker judges cannot exceed those of other judges. Availability All wines entered in Cuisine tastings must be readily available at the time of publication. However, high demand and a six-week lead time between tastings and publication can affect availability. If you cannot find the wines, contact the winery or distributor direct. Prices Suppliers are asked to provide a retail price range for all wines entered in tastings. Prices do vary between vineyard and low-to-high volume outlets and cannot, therefore, be guaranteed. All prices are quoted in $NZ. Recommended by Cuisine stickers Look for these top wines as your guarantee of quality. Gold sticker - Wines awarded five stars can wear the gold five-star Recommended by Cuisine sticker. Burgundy sticker - Wines awarded 4 1/2 and four stars can display the original Recommended by Cuisine sticker.