Spain & Portugal Archive

Here is a new wine from Laely Heron. If you are not familiar with Laely's wines, you should know that they have been continuously praised as "best buys" in the national wine press. They are poured by the glass at restaurants around the country and are always favorites among master sommeliers and chefs. This is because her wines are balanced, have great acid, structure, flavor and character. In other words, they have soul, but at affordable prices.

Sexto is a blend of six grape varieties: grenache, carignan, tempranillo, syrah, cabernet sauvignon and that grape we all hold dear to our hearts - lledoner pelut noir. Sexto means "sixth" in Spanish, and Laely says that the addition of that unusual sixth grape made the difference in this wine. It added traditional Spanish character to a wine made in a fairly modern style.

The wine comes from the Terra Alta region of Spain, which is the southern-most D.O. in Catalonia, quite close to the more famous Priorat appellation, which is about 6 miles away. The vines for this wine range in age from 10-year-old cabernet and syrah to 60-year-old carignan and lledoner pelut noir. 

I think this is another great everyday wine. Very fresh and lively, it is a fruit forward wine with a spicy note that is unique and distinctive. The grenache really comes through with bright red fruit flavors. I almost liked it more the second day the bottle was open. Some of the warm brown spice notes were heightened, and I picked up even more of a floral, violet scented note in the background. This wine has a very nice acid structure that keeps it from ever becoming insipid. It's just a really delicious wine that is great by itself but would complement many foods including braised beef or pork.

I admit to frequently complaining about American's misdirected devotion to the many simplistic and fashionable single varietal wines of the present day. I saw an article recently, stating that the French needed to start producing "simpler" wines for American tastes if they wanted to be successful.  These silly (mostly New World) wines are so pristine in their reductive simplification, that they emerge as vinous sound-bites, almost monosyllabic in their nature, hence we are burdened with terms like cab, chard, and zin - and the wines match the language exactly. Time to escape the safe haven of the varietally dominated!
 
Naia features the traditional white grape variety of the Rueda region, Verdejo (85%), blended with a bit of Viura (15%). Naia Verdejo has a pale yellow-green color (not to be confused with green-yellow) with a nose that reminds me of grapefruit, lime and mint with a slight herbal note. It is crisp and bright with medium body and is a little reminiscent of Sauvignon Blanc. It has rich flavors of grapefruit, lime and kiwi fruit, all with no oak. Well balanced with a nice lingering finish.
 
I imagine this wine would be great with steamed clams. It would pair nicely with shellfish, roast chicken and maybe even fruit salads. But I like it just by itself.

After many years working in the wine and viniculture industry, Juan Antonio Fernández decided to set up this family run bodega. Founded in the year 2000 Liberalia is, despite its youth, already one of the rising stars of wine production in Toro. Toro is in central Spain in a fairly secluded part of Castile. The D. O. of Toro is located northwest of Madrid. Liberalia is made up of some 30 hectares, and there are numerous old Tinta de Toro (Tempranillo) vines on the estate, many over 50 years of age.

The name Liberalia refers to the celebrations in honor of the Roman god Liber (also known as Bacchus) that marked the passing of children into puberty. The main feature of these celebrations was the consumption of high quality wines.

Liberalia is very much a boutique vineyard, producing just 80,000 bottles of wine (90% of which are reds) per year. It combines leading edge technology with traditional winemaking skills. Grapes are harvested and sorted by hand and the relatively small amount of wine produced is closely monitored throughout the fermentation and maturing process.  It is a very modern, very well equipped winery and takes pains in harmonizing the traditional know-how of the area with the most modern technology and cultivation methods that are respectful to the environment.
 
Despite four months in oak this wine still has an intense, clean, cherry color, brilliant and lively. Clean and refined with a subtle background of wood leading to an outstanding body of fruit with blackberry, raspberry and a hint of licorice. A smooth, long palate showing well balanced acidity and a hint of tannin. A wine that would show well against others costing twice its price.

Cortes de Cima, Chaminé, Vinho Tinto, Alentejo, Portugal 2001

Chaminé is produced and bottled at Cortes de Cima, a family property located in the Alentejo. The Alentejo has led the way in Portugal's wine revolution. It's a region that has enjoyed tremendous success over the last decade, producing red wines both in the traditional style and also in the modern, fruit-forward, almost new-world style that has been such a huge commercial success and which has propelled this region forward. Cortes de Cima, owned by Hans and Carrie Jorgensen, falls firmly into the latter bracket, and has rapidly established itself as one of the leading wineries of this region.

The great success of the Alentejo has been in making thoroughly modern, concentrated wines that still retain a distinctly Portuguese character, and this is what Cortes de Cima has done very well. It is a family estate, with 35 hectares of vines, located near Vidigueira in the Alentejo region of Portugal, 210 Kms southeast of Lisbon, and 50 Kms from Spain.

Cortes de Cima wines combine the best New World techniques and technology with the flavors that come from well-ripened Portuguese grapes. Powerful concentrated fruit is backed by fine integrated French and American oak and balanced by ripe tannins.

Chaminé is a blend of 75% Aragonez (Tempranillo) and 25% Trincadeira.

This is an extremely approachable wine, which may be drunk young to enjoy the soft, fruit style. However, Chaminé will continue to develop well in the bottle, with enough concentration and tannic structure to ensure improvement over the next 3-5 years. It is a bright and deep purple with a plum character and a complex note of strawberries and truffles counterbalanced with well integrated oak. It has a striking sweet herby nose with caramel notes and a medicinal edge. Quite rich and full on the palate with an attractive savory character and good acidity. This is a very good wine at a very good price. If you haven't tasted many Portuguese wines lately, this is one that will really get your attention.
Middle Weight, Fruity Reds -- 6 bottles $85.50