Tag: Rioja

Something ‘old’ is something ‘new’ from CVNE

In today’s world, the search is to find something new and exciting.  This would absolutely qualify on the thrilling part…but it isn’t new.  As a matter of fact, it’s old.  We’ll explain.  A lot of you already know about the Cune Monople Blanco, something of a staple around here for the last few years and a crazy value white that has even graced the Wine Spectator Top 100.  They have been making this wine this way for more than four decades.  But this isn’t what we are talking about, though the 2016 is once again delicious in its own style.

What really got us excited was this new/old release called Cune Monopole Rioja Blanco Clásico 2014, the word ‘clásico’ being of particular importance. This is the reintroduction of a unique, ‘old school’ white produced prior to the 1980s.  Cune’s explanation of the story is pretty clear.

“From the early 20th century to the 70s, Monopole was a staple of homes and restaurants across Spain. It was one of CVNE’s main wines. Sadly, fashion turned against it, sales fell, and production in this style ceased in the 80s.  Fresh, fine, bone dry, this wine had the peculiarity and originality of having some barrel ageing with a percentage of Sherry wine, with written permission from the Rioja appellation. The Sherry added structure to the Rioja white, while they both integrated harmoniously in barrel and later in bottle.

A bottle of this old Monopole was searched for in the Haro winery’s cemetery. A solitary 1979 bottle appeared. The wine was savory, very fresh, balanced, delicious. On the spot, the decision was made: we would make this wine again, as it had been made historically.  We called Ezequiel Garcia, CVNE winemaker from the 40s until the 70s, to invite him back to help us produce that wine again. Ezequiel, aka ‘the wizard’ and now in his eighties, had no doubts and said ‘Yes’ straight away.

Monopole is the story of a remake, 40 years on; this time, with the original director as guest star. And this time, handmade and in small quantities, to best ignore the whims of fashion.  The wines’ aging contributes to its peculiar organoleptic characteristics, adding aromas of chamomile, dried fruits, and a long and persistent aftertaste. The marked acidity increases Monopole Clásico’s freshness.”

We loved this wine’s panache, with a nose of pear, grain, a whiff of salinity and the subtle, penetrating nuttiness of a fine, dry Sherry.  Plenty of personality up front, a nice cut of acidity in the back, and lots of complexity to contemplate in between, it kind of reminded us of a Lopez de Heredia Tondonia with the wine’s natural vigor playing off the nuttiness in an aged white.  The Monopole Clasico’s unique ‘recipe’ really delivers.

 Wine’s Advocate’s Luis Gutierrez seemed as dazzled by this new ‘old’ gem, and reviewed it before it was even bottled…not the usual practice with Spanish whites.

“I was thinking “I wish this wine went back to the more serious bottlings of 40 and 50 years ago…” when tasting the regular Monopole, and they showed me this 2014 Monopole Clásico, which is a wine to celebrate the centenary of the brand (registered in 1914) and it blew me away. They have produced this wine like it was done in the good old times, adding some Manzanilla Sherry (yes, yes, you read it correctly); they top up the Viura with Manzanilla purchased from the Hidalgo family of Sanlúcar de Barrameda.

Not only did they add the wine (Sherry), they purchased the wine in bota, so the wine is also aged in Sherry casks. It does have an amazing nose with notes of sea breeze, iodine and esparto grass. The palate is extremely tasty, but at the same time is light and fresh, with the acidity of Viura and the kick and pungency from Manzanilla. Awesome!… This will be bottled in a couple of months, but I couldn’t help reporting on it… Welcome back, Monopole!…91-93 points.”

Awesome, indeed!  Luis was obviously stoked.  It is rare for him to have multiple exclamation points in an article.  So are we.  Even though it’s an ‘old’ style, it’s new to us, and very compelling.  One of the most exciting whites we’ve had in a while, and that is saying a lot.

 

 

Yes, it’s another of our ‘we stole some Spanish wine’ stories. 

Just had another bottle of this and felt the need to retell the story…

We first ran across the Tahon de Tobelos Rioja Reserva 2009 at a tasting sponsored by a new importing entity that was establishing a beachhead here in SoCal with a new distributor.  This was one of the standouts in what was an intriguing lineup with a lot of labels we had not seen before, as well as a few we knew well that had been off the market for a while.  A short time later, the representative for the company came by to follow up after the tasting and, to our surprise, this label was already being discontinued.

Introductory closeout!

Hey, things can run a little hot in Spain.  We get that.  Apparently the breaking point was not related to this wine, but another one from the same ownership that was not ‘a fit’ for this importer.  Ties were broken and everyone went their own way.  We have always made a joke of such happenings as being ‘introductory closeouts’.  But, as silly as that sounds, this is exactly that.  Hey, whatever makes the deal possible, and this one’s a beauty.

So who are these guys?  We found a piece from the Wine Advocate’s Luis Gutierrez on Tahon de Tobelos that encapsulates the story nicely, “I was pleasantly surprised by the wines from Tobelos, which are sought after by savvy drinkers in the famous tapas street, Calle Laurel in Logrono, (the capital city of Rioja) as they represent very good value. The winery is a very young operation, only created in 2001, their goal being to blend tradition and modernity. Today they own 10 hectares of vineyards averaging 30 years of age in the villages of San Vicente de la Sonsierra and Brinas…This is a new name to follow.”

That piece was written in December 2013, along with an enthusiastic review of the Tahon de Tobelos Rioja Reserva 2009, “The 2009 Tahon de Tobelos is pure Tempranillo from vineyards averaging 60 years of age with malolactic and aging for 14 months in new oak barrels of different origin, which is racked every four months, and is clearly an ambitious wine with the intensity and depth of the old vines. It’s still very young, with a big imprint from the aging in oak with notes of smoke, vanilla and chocolate covering the aromas of ripe blackberries and plums, with a meaty palate and some gritty tannins that should resolve with a couple of years in bottle. A clean, powerful Rioja that requires a bit of patience. Drink 2015-2020. 92 points.”

As we dug some more, we found a more recent review from Wine Spectator, a web-only review from 2016.  They liked it, too, commenting, “This bold red delivers blackberry, currant, cola and chocolate flavors, with light leafy and licorice notes that add a savory element. This is round but not heavy, with well-integrated tannins and balsamic acidity. Drink now through 2019. “ They laid a 93-point score on it and showed a retail of $37.

It was one of the highest-scored Riojas of the vintage, going toe-to-toe with, as you can see, the region’s best wines and the wine had, at the time, one of the lowest prices at that $37 retail vis-à-vis its pricier peers.

Now? Wow…

It is clear from the heavy bottle, long cork and intense flavor that this juice was not intended to sell for this kind of price.  This is big Rioja, with mouthfilling, oak-infused fruit and richness, sort of a modern-styled Senorio de San Vincente meets Muga Reserva.  It has the size, weight, and flashy fruit to play to fans of New World reds but the polish and flair to keep Rioja fans quite happy.

You’ll note we’re in the prime drinking window of both reviews (and we suspect it will live past 2020), so the ‘market’ has done the hard work for you.  Most important, due to this aforementioned disagreement, we have it at a crazy good price.  Looks can be deceiving, and this wine looks and tastes more expensive.  It was supposed to be.  But nobody has to know it only cost you $19.98.  It’ll be our little secret.