I was already a fan of big, bold red wines - you know, those ones with cojones - but really knew very little about Spanish wine outside of Rioja and Ribera del Duero. That changed when I started looking into the wines of the Granada region. For reasons known only unto myself I presumed that wine production was more limited to the more northerly regions, but I am glad to have proven myself very wrong about that! I will wax lyrical about the Vinos De La Tierra De Granada in further posts. So here is my first foray into wine tasting notes, hoping that I don't sound too up myself! As always, I manage to bring food into it so you get some idea of how well the wines paired. This post and the one following - about another two reds - don't describe a wine selected for the meal or the other way around. These are purely happy coincidences! Senorio de Nevada DOP – Plata 2014 One of the larger and more well-known producers in the region, they bottle just three wines, Bronze, Plata and Oro – bronze, silver and gold. This bodega also has a small hotel and restaurant outside of the city of Granada. Hoping to get there and review it soon! The Plata is a mix of Syrah, Cabernet and Merlot and is aged 10 months in French and American oak. Perhaps surprisingly I found no discernible evidence of woodyness in either nose or mouth. The high alcohol content of 15.5% makes itself known in a very pleasant way. In the glass it’s like Prince - deep purple but thin of leg! It needs plenty of airing and a decent temperature to get anything off the nose, but there is black cherry jam, with note of super-sweetness like candyfloss or a whiff of icing sugar. Fortunately, it is fuller of body in the mouth, where you get smacked with bilberries and blackcurrant, though nothing much more complex than that until you've swallowed. Hints - and I do mean hints - of chocolate just hold their own against a slightly sour liquorice, which is nice on the way down. Tanins are well balanced with no particular dryness in the mouth or finish, which is where you get a cheeky pepper surprise which lingers. We drank it with duck breast and a morel sauce. It was a fine accompaniment to the meal, as you would expect with that dark fruit in the foreground cutting through the richness of the meat. OVERALL - Consistently good, this is a wine - and a bodega - that should be sought out if you visit the region. Wines like this deserve to be at the forefront of a broader recognition and appreciation for Granadian wine. Bodegas Fontadei – Prado Negro VDT de Granada Another of the bigger wineries of the region, Fontadei got my attention initially because of the label – can't lie! Anything that has a lion from the Alhambra or geometrics on it turns me into a magpie - look at it. This Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot mix is aged 11 months in French oak and has 13.5%. Their vineyards sit 1200 meters above sea level, which allows a slower maturation of the grape due to the big change between day and night time temperatures than at lower altitudes. This results in a more complex higher quality wine. The oak drifts up well from the glass with a side order of fresh leather – overall kind of woody. There is a sweet/sour note that reminds me of raspberry vinegar. It’s well bodied and powerful to start. The structure is balance is great, tanins are there but they don’t stick your lips to your teeth! The acidity is fruity, which is just a well, as there is a good whack of (bear with me here) Dandelion and Burdock! Yes, that aniseed/liquorice flavour is robust here but not at all in a sweet way. An aftertaste of warm spices was perfect given that we supped it with lamb leg steaks marinaded in ras-al-hanout & orange zest. Accompanied by cous-cous style veg with chick peas & preserved lemon. It was a match made in heaven – couldn’t have planned it better. Sweetness of the lamb and the spices were complimented but the fattiness cut through by the fruity acidity. Robust enough to cope with that super sharp preserved lemon too. OVERALL - Again another bodega to watch out for. I could easily have polished off another bottle of the Prado Negro
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Beautifully described, the Bodegas Fontadei sounds particularly interesting. Do you know if it is available anywhere in the UK? Thanks.
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AuthorAlex Gonnord-Luty, chef, aspiring good blog writer, Hispanophile, lives currently in France & Spain. Archives
September 2020
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