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Some
of my favorites:
'96 Glorioso,
Bodegas Palacio ($12.75) My personal favorite,
a Rioja that benefits from modern technology, this wine
has an intense richness with great structure and judicious
use of oak for elegance and polish.
'97 Marquis
de Grinon ($8.99) Another Rioja, but
in a more traditional
style. Velvety soft
with luscious
vanilla/oak accents, it has a roasted, meaty character that
reflects its Mediterranean heritage.
'97 Vega Sauco
($9.99) From Toro in Northern Spain, this is a blockbuster
wine with gobs of fruit and massive tannins. This is a stunning
wine that may need some time to
soften.
'96 Val Sotilla
($29.99) From the Ribera del Duero, this is tempranillo
at its finest. Intense and structured with a very perfumed
nose. Rich, opulent and spicy on the palate.
ALots of wine drinkers get stuck in a rut. This is not
entirely the wine lover's fault. After all, the blandness
of the New World market has crept into the wine industry:
Cabernet sauvignon and merlot can now be found in vineyards
from Australia to Italy and just about everywhere else in
between. Damn straight, these wines are consistent, reliable
and packed with flavor. But sometimes you've got to break
out: For these times, I say go to Spain.
Spain devotes more acres to vineyards than any other country,
yet its production ranks only fourth behind that of France,
Italy and the former Soviet Union. A combination of high
altitude and arid conditions naturally limit the crop size.
But low yields mean higher-quality grapes with more concentration
and intensity.
The evolution of the Spanish wine industry began in Roman
times, and early on Spain was known for the quality of its
wines. Later, in the 19th century, winemakers from Bordeaux,
fleeing the destruction of their vines by phylloxera (a
louse that is currently munching on our own Oregon vine
roots), brought French winemaking techniques to Spain. One
such innovation, the use of barrique aging, was overused
to the extent that the character of the wine was completely
obscured by oak. Today, many of the traditional wines from
the Rioja have a soft, washed-out quality that has given
Spanish wine the reputation of being uniformly boring. Only
in recent history has modern winemaking come to Spain. With
the advent of cold fermentation and stainless steel, Spain
has begun to make international-style wines that still reflect
their unique origins. This is most evident with Spain's
greatest red-grape varietal, tempranillo. This black-skinned
variety is grown all over Spain and, at its best, can compete
in quality with the greatest wines of the world. These Spanish
beauties tend to have the backbone of fine Bordeaux, a rich
meaty flavor with distinct hints of vanilla (from oak aging)
and an intriguing spiciness. Very often they are blended
with granacha grapes in order to add perfume and a juicier
fruit quality.
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