Meeting 456

      Meeting 456 - -"A Ramble through Rioja and Rueda"

                  Friday 17th February 2023

             Speaker:  Paul Fritz-Johnson, Welch & Co Merchants

Paul

       This month we were very pleased to welcome back Paul Fritz-Johnson, who first came to Berkshire Branch in 2019. His wines, as his title suggests, includes a variety of wines from the main regions across the North of Spain.
       RUEDA was first established in the 11th century by Alphonso VI. After destruction by phylloxera and generally not very successful at producing fortified RUEDA Rosado (from Palamino Fino) it revived after being blessed by Marchese de Riscal 1970 - one of the leading wine makers of Rioja and Ribero. By 1980 it became DO. The predominant grape is Verdejo - almost 90%. It is located South of the Duero and covers something like 40,000 acres. The best area is close to the Duero and is alluvial soil high in lime. Other authorised Whites are Viura, Viognier and Chardonnay. The demise of Palamino Fino is underlined by the fact that it is now forbidden to plant it in the area.
       Paul's aperitif,the Mas Macia Cava had a nice fruity nose with a hint of orange. Good fruit on the palate with a clean light acid finish. A pleasant start to the evening. The Diaz Siglos Verdejo had a tropical fruit nose with plenty of fruit on the palate. This wine proved to be very popular. It was followed by the Menade Verdejo. It had a slightly puzzling nose, a quite deep yellow colour and full citrus palate. It was more complex than the Diaz Siglos but was not as popular. The following Gomez Curado Rioja Blanco had good fruit and herbal nose. The full fruit (gooseberry?) and light acid finish was the second most popular white wine. The Diez Siglo sauvignon Blanc had a typical nettles and grassy nose. The clean tropical and citrus fruit resulted from the early picking of the grapes before the verdejo.
       Mark then provided us with a very multi-flavoured Prawn and Chorizo in garlic. Very moorish!
       The first red wine, the Gomez Crudao Rioja , had a sweet stone fruit nose - almost soft fruit, With a full very plummy palate and soft tannins it was followed by three popular red wines. The first of which, the Ca N'Estruc L'Equilibria had a hint of vanilla on the nose and a well balanced full fruit and soft tannins which gave it a long finish. The Bodegas Borsao Cabriola had everything going for it. Balanced full fruit and smooth tannins. The 15.5% alcohol did not did cause any problems! The final red the Gomez Cruzado Rioja Reserva was a delight with damson on the nose with a rich palate of sloe stone fruit and soothing long soft tannin and fruit finish. Altogether a very interesting range of wines.
        Mark's supper was a very tasty Iberian Pork Casserole together with an excelent mixture of vegetables. To accompany the supper, Paul provided a pleasant full Borsao Seleccion Tinto Garnacha (100%) A very good wine and food evening.

The Wines	Cost(£)**	Score
Aperitif: Mas Marcia Cava Brut Reserva NV	11.76	7
The Whites: (1) Diez Siglos Verdejo Ecologico, 2021	8.68	8+
(2)Menade Verdejo Nosso Natural Organic, 2021	15.87	7
(3) Gomez Cruzado Rioja Blanco 2Ano 2021	13.78	8
(4) Diez Siglo Sauvignon Blanc, 2020	8.59	7+
The Reds: (5) Gomez Cruzado Rioja Crianza, 2017	14.35	7+
(6) Ca N'Esruc L'Equilibrista, 2016	20.23	8
(7) Bodegas Borso Cabriola, 2017	15.86	8+
(8) Gomez Crusado Vina Durana Rioja Reserva, 2017	26.51	8+
The Supper Wine: (9) Borsao Selection Tinto Garnachs	8.11

** Price to Members