[wine] Spanish Wines at Auriga

Greetings, We're heading to Auriga (tentative). Plan is to do a mix of whites and reds from spain. Yes Lori Betsy Russ/Sue Roger Jim Cheers, Jim ----- Forwarded message from "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> ----- ----- Forwarded message from "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)ME.UMN.EDU> ----- Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2005 16:32:30 -0600 From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)ME.UMN.EDU> To: wine(a)thebarn.com Subject: [wine] Que Syrah Sirah Greetings, Off to the newly remodeled Auriga, Thursday, 6:30. NW corner of Hennepin and Franklin Auriga Rest. 1930 Hennepin Ave, Mpls, 55403 612-871-0777 Best wag at who's coming: Lori Betsy Roger Nicolai Jim Russ/Sue Cheers, Jim Tasting Notes Spanish wines (and one ringer) at Marimar . 11/13/03 The Thursday evening friends enjoyed Spanish wines and chef Brian Crouch.s excellent cuisine at Marimar. Wines tasted blind, in flights, as usual. Bubbly 1: aromatic, clean, attractive Cava. [ Segura Viudas, .Aria. (Cava). ] Bubbly 2: just OK Cava, less aromatic and either a little sweetish for my taste or lacking acid structure. [ Montsarra (Cava). This has been commonly available in the Twin Cities market for the past six months or so. I.ve had much better bottles, or at least bottles that seemed much better at the time. ] Later in the meal, we also opened an attractive Cava from Marques de Gelida. White 1: big fresh sauvignon blanc nose, tastes like riesling with sugar/acid interplay, finish lacks length but this is fresh and good, a touch too much residual sugar for the acid structure? [ Fritz Allendorf, 2002 Winkeler Jesuitengarten Riesling Kabinett Trocken (Rheingau). Guessed by some to be albarino, of course. ] White 2: interesting older white wine nose, oxidative notes (in a good way), trace of a sour smell (not off; a description, not necessarily a criticism), big body and fruit, good length and power on finish. Tastes and finishes younger and fresher than the nose led me to expect. I guessed this to be white Rioja, and just because the wine is readily available in the market, thought it was probably Lopez de Heredia.s Vina Tondonia. I personally like this style, although I also like dry sherry (and Arbois wines); not everyone will care for the oxidative character, of course. [ Segura Viudas, .Creu de Lavit. Xarel-Lo (Penedes). .Xarel-Lo. is the grape. ] Switching to red wines: 1.1: medium to light purple pinot noir color, Beaujolais nose, good fruit, quite dry, good mouthfeel and body, trace of Italian style bitterness, nice finish, quite good. [ Martinez Bujanda, 1999 .Condee de Valdemar. (Rioja Crianza). ] 1.2: badly corked. [ 1996 Vina Mayor (Ribeira del Duero). ] 1.3: dark color; shy nose with some depth; tannic mouth entry, then fruit, good quality, dark and forceful. [ Valpiculata, 2000 .Puertas Novas. (Toro). ] 1.4: dark and a trace cloudy; shy nose; tannic and, to me, rather cooked tasting. [ Castano, 2001 .Hecula. (Yecla). ] 2.1: glycerine .legs. in the glass; medium color; vegetal nose although with fruit too; mature and soft, low acid and tannin with fair fruit, OK finish with trace of bitterness. With somewhat more air, Annette Peters pronounced this one corked and with that coaching, I was able to find the mildewy bathroom smell and agree. [ Alejandro Fernandez, 2000 Tinto Pesquera (Ribeira del Duero). ] 2.2: dark, trace cloudy? Shy nose but with depth of dark fruit, another soft wine although more structure than 2.1, then power, aroma and fruit on the finish but with the alcohol sticking out a bit. [ Alejandro Fernandez, 1999 Tinto Pesquera (Ribeira del Duero). This wine absolutely blossomed in the glass and with another 40 minutes. air, the nose and midpalate fruit came out, the alcohol on the finish came into balance, and I thought it was competition with 3.2 for wine of the evening. 2.3: very dark, lovely deep nose, good structure with midpalate fruit shyish but coming, clean aromatic finish. Could wish for more power but good length, best of the evening so far? [ 1999 Valdubon (Ribeira del Duero). ] 3.1: medium color absolutely crystal clear; shyish nose with depth of black fruits, silky mouth entry, then the tannin/acid structure hits you with explosively aromatic if overripe fruit, powerful finish as it tastes and then an interesting aroma of leather at the very end. The overripeness of the fruit had a bit of an old fashioned late harvest zinfandel character to me, although the wine was not nearly that alcoholic. [ 1994 Montecillo Gran Reserve (Rioja). ] 3.2: quite dark; glycerine .legs. in the glass, fine dark fruit bouquet although could wish for more power on nose, fantastic structure in the mouth with maple, currant and blackberry flavors expanding, powerful finish with a touch of red raspberry. The nose picked up an interesting sour cherry overtone with air. Very, very good, a complete wine, much the best of the evening on initial tasting, still best or in top 2 after the wines aired. [ Europvin Falset, 2001 .Laurona. (Montsant). An item in Annette Peters. new portfolio. According to the label, 30% garnacha, 30% carignena, 15% syrah, 15% merlot, 10% cabernet sauvignon, and they made 56,000 bottles of this, very substantial production for such excellent quality. ] ----- End forwarded message ----- -- ------------------------------ * * Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *