It’s October 21st and I’m sitting here on my front porch enjoying a bottle of Raul Perez on an uncomfortably warm Fall evening I decided I should journal my way through the 6 month Spanish wine journey. Why am I on a 6 month journey through Spanish wines you may ask? Well it starts with a golf podcast, well kind of a golf podcast.
The Trap Draw podcast is a golf podcast where the hosts Tron Carter and Big Randy often say, “I think we’ve already discussed enough golf.” throughout the podcast episodes. On one episode they had a sommelier from Napa Valley by the name of Mark Reyes (affectionately known in our golf message board as Hala-Mark-Rey) of Reyes Wine Consulting to discuss Napa Valley which was hosting a PGA Tour tournament that specific week, but more importantly in relation to this blog post wine. Mark and the fellas discussed all sorts of things about wine from the classifications of different wines and where they come from, some of their favorites, whether Napa or Sonoma is the best of the famous Californian wine towns to visit, personal favorite wines.
One of the things that was caught my specifically caught my attention were the recommendations of wines to try by Mark where he included a high end and more lowed middle end wine that people should look into. The lower middle end wine that was recommended was from a Spanish wine maker by the name of Raul Perez, and there is where they journey begins.
Who is Raul Perez? What kind of wine is it? What is Spanish wine like? What varieties of Spanish wine are there? How similar are they to the wines I, and most of you, are familiar with like Pinot Noir, Merlot, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon? You may be asking yourself some of the questions that I asked myself, and I hope to try and answer some of them during this journey.
The journey I did not realize I had ahead of my was finding a bottle of Raul Perez. I first started with a large wine warehouse type retailer with no avail, then onto numerous grocery stores without success, next I tried two of the higher end wine shops here in New Orleans and still had no luck. Finally after about 3 weeks I finally had 8 different Raul Perez selections in front of me to choose from. Don’t think that I didn’t try other Spanish wine along the way.
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So of course we now get to what I am sure you are really here for, “What wines have you been drinking on the journey through Spanish wines?
Lopez de Heredia “Viña Bosconia” Reserva Rioja, 2007
This is the first bottle of Spanish wine that I have purposely drank to my knowledge. I am sure that over the years I have had wine from Spain, but never have I intended on drinking a wine before Spain until now. I bought this bottle at the recommendation of a gentleman at one of the nicer wine shops here in New Orleans along my journey for Raul Perez. The man working at the store did some research after I had called earlier in the week looking for RP, and recommended this wine to me because they use a similar natural wine making method and because the particular 2007 vintage was a great deal for the $45 I got it at.
I will apologize as the review of this wine won’t be extremely strong. Firstly because I am writing this almost a month after I actually drank the wine (I wasn’t considering doing this blog at the time), and secondly because I am just learning about Spanish wines, and lastly because I ain’t no pro at this.
The Reserva Rioja from Viña Bosconia is really all that I want in a wine. I like wines that leave you feeling as if you have a full mouth of fruit. A wine that gives you a smooth silky feeling like this Aged Tempranillo while drinking it is right up my ally.
This is a wine that I could easily see myself buying a case of to enjoy at home on the porch on a cool evening or while enjoying a warm bowl of stew, braised short ribs, or even gumbo. Even better it’s a wine that I would bring over the friends’ houses to enjoy with them. It was a very easy drink with plenty of depth and flavor.
Better yet, you can find the 2008 vintage for about $22 which I’ve heard is very good as well. You may see it in one the following months on here.
Raul Perez “Ultreia St-Jacques” Mencía Bierzo, 2018
So after three weeks of searching here we are. The first bottle of Raul Perez that I am going to taste. So much excitement. So much anticipation. The nice photos have been taken for social media, The Refuge Wine Society thread, and you all reading this blog. Here we go…
You have to remember when trying the recommendations of others that they are others preferences and will not always line up with your preferences. I have learned over the years of recommending restaurants to my friends, family, and strangers via social media that just because I like something does not mean that they will as well. We all have unique taste palates that lead us to enjoy certain flavors more than others.
I had to remember that when I first tried this Raul Perez Ultreia. I don’t know the technical terms, but this wine in particular seem to fall off very abruptly as soon as I swallowed it. To me it had a very strong almost forceful taste sour fruit at the beginning which i quite enjoyed, but it felt as though there wasn’t a second layer to it. I say this not as a deterrent to any of you to try, or even to myself from trying it again. After all this is a journey of exploration, and luckily for this journey I can easily retrace my steps by going and buying another bottle of wine. How awful is that?
Castro Ventosa, El Castro de Valtuille, Bierzo, Spain, 2015
It’s a usual weekday evening in my household; saving laundry, watching Netflix (Chef’s Table tonight which always gets my creative juices flowing), managing a toddler, and enjoying a bottle of wine. I did my best this evening to make sure that I experienced the Castro Ventosa, El Castro de Valtuille, Bierzo in the way it was intended to be enjoyed. I put it in the fridge for about 35-40 minutes and then let it breathe after opening it for about 20 minutes.
You may be asking why I selected this wine. In my search for a bottle of Raul Perez I called one of my local wine shops and they told me that they had one of his bottles in their shop. When I arrived at the shop I learned that the bottle they actually had was one from his family’s estate Castro Ventosa which has been in the family since the 1750s. This particular wine as I understand best was produced by Raul Perez as you see on the label, but it does not hold the namesake of his estate. I had no idea of the layer and layers that go into wine making, and I know that I am still only learning.
A punch to the nostrils! That’s how I describe the first sip of this Bierzo. The rush of pungent aromas was stronger than I can remember having from any particular wine. The question is now what am I supposed to be tasting? I know that I like this wine based on my first half glass, but what am I supposed to be getting from the wine? From some Googling I was able to determine that I should be getting strong red berry flavors which makes sense. I don’t know if I would say that I am getting raspberry vibes from the wine, but blackberry for sure. I eat blackberries pretty much every morning with with my yogurt so it makes sense why I would like this wine.
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So one month in what are my thoughts? Well firstly I am looking forward to continuing this journey through the country of Spain through wine. Two of the three bottles have been very pleasant to drinks and are wines that I could definitely see myself buying again. What am I looking forward to the most? Besides drinking copious amounts of more wine over the remaining 5 months? It would have to be exploring the different varieties of wines and wine regions across the country of Spain; which is just a nice way of saying drinking copious amounts of wine.
As always thank you for taking a few moments out of your day to read my blog. I hope that you have enjoyed my conversation on Spanish wines, and join me along the rest of this journey.
Thank you,
Ben
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