Hidden gems of Iberia

 

Eclectic masterclass at the London Wine Fair 2025 focussed on Iberian wines and led by Mercedes Carbajo of Majuelos Iberia.

Below are my tasting notes.

Rias Baixas

Alvinte As Laxas

Crisp, zesty, green apple,

Score 86

Cariñena

Garnacha 

Vaquerizas, tierra de Cubas

Score 85

Catalayud 

las Martas San Gregorio 

Garnacha 

Smooth elegant long 

Score 92

Ribera del Jucar Ramblilla 2022 

bobal grape 

Vega Maragona 

40yo vines 

Structure length 

Needs a few years in bottle

Score 88

Txakoli Zudugarai rosé

Hondarrabi 60% beltza and 40% zuri 

From Basque country, 

Slight effervescent natural 

Score 85

Rioja selection, Jesus Madrazo 2018

Graciano 28% 2% Maturana 70% tempranillo 

Intense aroma, Elegant, structure still rough, needs time 

Score 86

Ribera del Duero - AØ (zero) Ferratus 2020 

Tempranillo 

12 months French oak 

Perfect balance, long ready 

Score 91

Jumilla 2021 

Alceño 12

From area considered kingdom of monastrell (mourvedre), only grape that grows well in the region 

Pre phylloxera vines, climate too tough even for pests!12 months in French and American oak 

Perfect balance, long, ready 

Score 92

Meet the producer: Navarro Lopéz, Ciudad Real, Spain

A family-run enterprise for over one hundred years, Navarro Lopez has blended tradition and innovation and carries forward the best of Rioja wine making through its presence pretty much all over the world. Below are my tasting notes from a selection of wines that I received for review.

Elegancia 2019
Tempranillo 100%
The name says it all, this is an elegant wine
Paired with Chinese bamboo shoots, pork belly and brown rice.
Score 90

Chinese bamboo shoots and brown rice for an "elegant" pairing"

Vina trebolar 2022

Graciano, tempranillo, syrah and garnacha

A wine of stature, with plump structure, perfectly balanced, where the fruit has given space to secondary flavors. I can only imagine tertiary notes would develop in time but this bottle is ready now.

Score 94

Imperio Gran Seleccion 2019

Tempranillo 100%

This is a delicate tempranillo, this seems to be a recurring feature in Navarro Lopéz wines, a wine that tiptoes to your palate rather than exploding in your mouth. It is elegant and at its peak now. I think that its perfect structure could only suffer from prolonged bottle aging.

I paired it with braised duck legs and soya bean sprouts.

Score 91

Viña Valoria 2013

tempranillo 100%

A truly top notch tempranillo, with all you might expect from that and more. An intense aroma of ripe red fruits leaves you ready for enjoying a perfectly balanced and complex mix of secondary and tertiary flavors. 36 months in American oak confer a smooth elegance to this majestic wine. Great length. 

I paired it with shredded slow cooked pork accompanied by red peppers and a touch of spring onions for freshness.

Score 95

Meet the producer: Penafiel, Ribera del Duero, Spain

Second tasting of Penafiel wines for the Roving Somm, see my previous notes here on this blog. This second lineup is even more impressive than the first, and it is once more led by the exceptional Silencio de Miros. 

Thank you to Onvinum for making the introduction on the occasion of the online wine fair of February 2024.

See tasting notes below.

Alba de Miros 2022

Albarino 100%. A fresh breath of Spring in this wine that offers floral notes and pineapple in the nose and a balanced and moderately complex palate. Good length. I happily paired it with steamed mussels. A wine with no pretensions that stands up very well in its category. Score 88

Miros de Ribera Reserva 2019

Tempranillo 100%

I would call this an upper middle class typical tempranillo with full elegant body, round structure. This 2019 is ready but will still evolve for a few years. I paired it with baked lam. Watch the alcohol content, it is a strong wine indeed!

Score 90

Miros Roble 2022

Complex aromas of red fruits. A powerful expression of the tempranillo variety. Hard sensations prevail, probably needs some smoothening in the bottle for another couple of years.

Score 88

La Casa de las Locas 2022

Albariño 100%

This was an amazing albariño, intense nose, powerful structure, with complex floral notes and good length. I am used to think of this grape as a relatively easy one, but this wine challenged this taster to focus his full attention to discover its many nuances.

Score 93

Silencio de Miros 2019 

Top of the line Penafiel , this harmonious Silencio de Miros 2019. tempranillo 100% from their most prized parcel of land at 1000 meters above sea level. Nine months in French oak, this 15.5%abv comes in a beautiful wooden box.

A perfectly balanced wine with ripe red fruits that dance along with smooth tannins in a complex swirling of nuanced sensations.

I dared to pair it with slightly spicy red mullet and olives and it works out magnificently, another example where red wine does indeed go very well indeed with fish.

Score 96

Meet the producer: Alcardet, Toledo, Spain

A family company founded in 1972, Alcardet is an up and coming vineyard that focuses on organic wines. Located in the region  of Toledo, south-west of Madrid, it combines some interesting experiments with more classic production associated with the region.

Cepas Viejas 2019

Almost extinct Moravia and Tinto Velasco grapes, very limited edition aged in oak for 6 months. A rare gem from Castilla.

A fruity, balanced wine with medium body. Smooth tannins. Ready now. I paired with pasta that I had prepared with a sweet tendency sauce. I also tried roasted chicken and peas, and would not recommend a steak as red meat would have too much structure for this delicate wine. 

Score 90

371+52 =323 Correcto

Verdejo 100%

A floral nose with latent white peach and a smooth unpretentious wine. Moderate length. An easy drink to pair with a salade niçoise or mozzarella. Score 86

Correcto red wine

tempranillo 199%

A simple tempranillo, with fruity notes and moderate complexity and length, produced with the same "randomness" philosophy as the previous wine. 

Score 86

Natura Brut

Chardonnay, macabeo and airén

This organic brut presented an intense fruity nose and a moderately complex, balanced palate with fragrant notes. We paired it with a hearty English lamb pie. 

Score 89

Riesling Sescueras

Riesling 100%

This can be considered an interesting experiment, one does not find many riesling in southern Spain. This is an easy entry level wine, perhaps the warm climate prevents the full development of this variety. 

Score 80.

Real Gana brut Reserva 

Airén 100%

Their top of the line bubbly, this traditional method from Alcardet in Spain is very fresh without being aggressive, pleasant lemon zest. Moderate complexity and length. I paired it with mushroom ravioli, the acidity contrasted perfectly with the filling and fatty sauce. Score 89

Meet the producer: Valquejigoso, Madrid, Spain

The Valquejigoso estate is located 45 km south of the capital of Madrid. We had a chance to meet the producer at the 2022 online fair brilliantly organized by Onvinum, a new Spanish platform to bring together producers, buyers and educators.

The Valquejigoso Domaine was bought by the Colomo family in February 1986. From 1992 the domain, previously known as a hunting cottage for the European aristocracy, was transformed into a winery. The first vines were planted in 1997. Very well-known French nurseries participate in the project like Renoux - based in Bordeaux - as well as other French teams who came to share their experience in the "fork" vine planting method, an ancient method which requires a painful manual work.

DEHESA DE VALQUEJIGOSO 

Blend of cab sauvignon, merlot, tempranillo, negral and syrah taken from 21 plots, no less!

It is the only wine we tasted of this producer. An intense nose with complexity and length. Also well balanced. I paired it by concordance with with a vegetarian pizza, both food and wine of medium structure. Drink now or wait a year or two.

Score 90

Meet the Producer: Heras Cordon, Rioja, Spain

The Heras Cordón vineyard in Rioja should be better known. I have been introduced to them at an online fair organized by Onvinum in 2022. 

From their website we learn about their history. The family tradition in wine elaboration dates back to the end of the 19th Century, when they built the first cellars in their hometown, Lapuebla de Labarca in Rioja Alavesa.

During the first years, the wine was meant for local consumption; it was not bottled but primarily sold in bulk. The clients were locals and the amounts of production and consumption were rather small.

Wine production came to a halt during the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939. In the 1950’s, the winery was modernized and the production of Crianza wines started, with oak barrels of primarily French origin.

In the 70’s, taking advantage of the country’s modernisation, Heras Cordón Wineries and Vineyards launched its Crianza and Reserva wines into the national market. Its acceptance and growth was spectacular, in fact, the process reached its first peak in the 80’s, when the three siblings, who are currently the owners of the winery, set up a vine plantation company, becoming a national benchmark in that activity. Read more here.

Here below are my reviews of the wines they provided for tasting.

Heras Cordón Reserva 2015

Tempranillo (97%), graciano and mazuelo.
Incredible bottle this RESERVA from Heras Cordon in Rioja. The 2015 is eight-years-old at the time of this tasting and it is a marvelous feast of complex aromas, perfect balance and great length. The tannins are superbly rounded though they still offer structure. I paired it with a "boomerang" steak and it was a match made in heaven.
Score 95.

Expresión Limited Edition

Another great hit by Heras Cordon, this tempranillo is perfectly balanced, complex and long. It is ready now though still lots of fruit to show. ONly 5651 bottles came out of the cellar, grab one if you can! Score 93

Vendimia Seleccionada 2018

Tempranillo, graciano and mazuelo from old vines. Thirteen months in new French and American oak.

This  is a great wine, and looking at the main online retailers can be had for less than 20 euro. Intense ripe cherries to start, followed by smooth tannins and a complex and long profusion of secondary (prunes, mature wild berries) and tertiary (leather, chocolate) notes. Paired with aged beef. Score 94

Port Grand Tasting in London, courtesy of Instituto dos Vinhos Douro e do Porto

An intense afternoon for the wine trade in London today. A few weeks after a Madeira day, trade reps and media were invited by Westbury Pr to a walk around tasting of magnificent port bottles. All in all 19 tables with hundreds of samples, from simpler ruby to rare over fifty-year-old gems.

The Douro wine region was created one fine morning, on 10th September 1756, when Portugal decided to put some systematic order in the production of its most widely known and appreciated alcoholic drink. This makes Douro the oldest demarcated and regulated wine region in the whole world. 

It consists of two parts: Douro for regular wines and Porto for the iconic fortified brother. Today we focused on the latter.

Just as a reminder of port categories, here is how one should read the labels, and below a selection of my personal picks from a  superb collection put together by Westbury Communications for the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto.

Over a hundred varieties are allowed, but only five (Tinta Barroca, Tinto Cão, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), Touriga Francesa, and Touriga Nacional) are the most commonly used. White port is made with  Malvasia Fina, Donzelinho, Gouveio, Codega and Rabigato.

Ruby: wine usually made in steel. "Vintage" is given only for special years when the IVDP recognizes a potential for long aging, usually 3 or 4 times in a decade. "Late bottled vintage" is a ruby port that has spent longer in the oak barrel, at least 4 years, usually longer than that, and it develops more complex and subtle flavors as a result. 

Tawny: especially chosen for aging in oak casks. Wine is slowly exposed to air in the barrels. When an indication of age appears (10, 20, 30, 40 or 50 years) it means the wine has been produced blending products from different years to obtain a final result that in the opinion of the winemakers shows the characteristics for that age. It does not mean that all the wine is as old as indicated on the label.

Colheita: a Tawny wine that comes from a specific year's vintage. Aged in wood for at least 7 years and often 20 or more years.

Port sales worldwide have recently topped 80m bottles per year.

Here are the best bottles of today.

Dia and her Burmester treasures

Burmester

Colheita Tawny 2003, score 89

20 Year Old Tawny, smooth, score 92

40 Year Old Tawny, great balance, caramel, score 93

1967 Colheita, a surprise not in the original catalog! Complex nose and palate of dried apricots, caramel, very long, score 96, the best bottle today ex aequo.

Kopke

Allegedly the oldest port house still in existence, founded in 1638.

50 Year Old Tawny. Complexity, balance, length: a harmonious wine, score 96, the best bottle today ex aequo.

40 Year Old WHITE, nutty, fragrant, score 94

30 Year Old WHITE, as above, a bit less evolved, score 90

Colheita WHITE 2003 and 2005, smooth, sweet sensations prevail, score 86

Niepoort

Garrafeira Tawny 1987, a smoky wine, unique, one may love it or leave it! Aged in demijohns which produces a smoky result. Nieport is the only house to use this process today. score 95 

Real Companhia Velha

Royal Oporto 40 Year Old Tawny, score 92 RRP GPB 120

Royal Oporto Colheita Tawny 1977, score 93 RRP GBP 140

Royal Oporto Colheita Tawny 1980, score 89

Mary Wright pouring 50yo liquid gold

Sandeman & Ferreira

Ferreira Dona Antonia 10 Year Old WHITE, score 86

Ferreira Dona Antonia 20 Year Old Tawny, score 88

Ferreira Dona Antonia 30 Year Old Tawny, score 92 RRP GBP 99

Sandeman 40 Year Old Tawny, score 90 RRP GBP 156, dry for its age.

Sandeman 50 Year Old Tawny, score 96, RRP GBP 330, a harmonious wine, the best bottle today ex aequo.

I could not have asked for a better bottle to end today's tasting.

Wine Regions of Porto and DOuro (image by I.V.D.P.)

subregions of Porto and Douro