Events & News
Dear All
Had a great evening last night with twenty five guests from a local business (this was their second tasting evening with us) celebrating all things Spanish. We sampled ten wines from areas such as Grenada, Costers Del Segre, Valencia and Penedes to name just a few, and munched our way through an abundance of Tapas and generally just enjoyed ourselves. I think it pretty much fair to say that nearly all the wines were really well received, the general consensus being that it was refreshing to taste wines from regions and grapes that hadn’t been tried before.
For me the real eye-openers were the Recaredo, alt Penedes, Biodynamic Brut Nature Gran Reserva (best Cava I have ever tried!) and the Naranjuez, Granada, Organic Pinot Nera 2006 (who would have thought that you could get such a complex and delicious pinot noir made on the top of a mountain…… in Grenada!!).
I’ve attached some tasting notes and info below with a few pictures of the evening’s events (with not even one face-book style pose among them) and am off to think about a theme for our next tasting…. mmm maybe Californian wines…and burgers…
Recaredo, alt Penedes, Biodynamic Brut Nature Gran Reserva 2006 £29.99
Recaredo is one of the world's great sparkling wine projects. Started in 1924, proprietor Josep Matep Capellades was a sparkling wine disgorger who began reserving his own bottles. He built his own cellar and eventually founded Caves Recaredo. Over the last 80 years the winery has acquired some of the best land in Alt Penedes and most of the vineyards are on calcareous soil (similar to that of Champagne). Keeping with tradition the wines are aged on the lees under natural cork enclosures, hand disgorged without freezing the neck and no dosage is added keeping these bubblies at the Extra Brut level of dryness. The Brut Nature is composed of 64% Xarel-lo, 28% Macabeo and 8% Parellada. This batch spent 29 months on the lees before disgorgement.
Incredibly small bubbles with real finesse and elegance. It has a wonderful chalky minerality with notes of nutmeg and ginger. There is also a wonderful biscuity and citrus finish that transcends normal Cava standards by a mile
Bodegas Ametztoi, Txacoli di Getaria, 2010 £13.99
The organic Bodegas Ameztoi is situated in the fishing village of Getaria, deep in the heart of the Basque country of northern Spain, overlooking the Bay of Biscay. The Ameztoi family have run the estate for seven generations utilizing the indigenous Hondarrabi Zuri and Hondurrabi Beltza grapes to produce light, crisp wines bottled with residual carbon dioxide to give the wines their signature natural spritz. This particular Txacoli is made from the Hondarribi Zuri grape (aka Petit Courbu in France) and comes from vineyards situated on steep terraces overlooking the sea and as a result retains a certain salty minerality. Brilliant with fresh seafood. N.B. An important part of the Txacoli experience is to pour the wine from a great height into small tumblers, thereby ensuring a natural foam that eventually settles, retaining a lively spritz.
Auzells'09 CostersDel Segre £12.49
Macabeu, Sauvignon Blanc, Parellada, Viognier , Chardonnay, Muller Turgau, Muscat, Riesling, Albarino, Rousane
Greeny-gold color very bright. Apples, pears, pineapples, mangos, apricots, peach liquor, orange flowers, citric notes, mints, green grass and aromatic herbs like rosemary and thyme on the nose. Palate is fresh, bright and lively with creamy on the mouth. Good acidity and citric tons. Persistent floral and mineral aftertaste notes. Good balance volume/acidity.
Angosto White 2009 Valencia £ 8.49
This wine is ‘peachy’ in both senses of the word. It’s a jolly, fruity cocktail of grape varieties, including the local Verdejo and Moscatel de Grano Menudo, combined with Chardonnay and Sauvignon to create a delightfully fresh, dry white wine.
Pale straw in colour and delicately aromatic, with hints of peach fuzz, lemon blossom and laurel, which are echoed on the palate with white and orange stone fruits. Bright and zippy with a hint of bitter lemon to keep it tight, it’s a wine to enjoy as an aperitif, with fresh seafood or soft cheeses.
Bodegas Terras Gauda, Rias Baixas Albarino, 2010 £15.99
The flagship wine of the winery, it is a clear demonstration of the benefits of a wise mixture of grape varieties.This wine is elaborated starting from the free-run juices of the native quality varieties from the O ROSAL Valley, located on the Galician riverbanks of the Miño River, very close to the river mouth in the lands of La Guardia, in front of the neighbouring Portugal, under the Designation of Origin from Rías Baixas. Its prominent personality is the result of a combination of grape musts from the legendary ALBARIÑO variety (approximately 70%) with those of the singular LOUREIRA and CAIÑO BLANCO.The result is a wine with an interesting complex mix of aromas, combining white fruits, orange pips and peel with fresh balsamic notes, supported by subtle floral and mineral hints.
It enters the mouth smoothly, progressing towards a pleasant, sticky sweetness, accompanied by fresh, bright acidity, concluding with fleshy finish in the mouth, long and creamy
Gran Cerdo Tempranillo Biodynamic Rioja £8.99
A red from Spain without any region or vintage info! Great label with a flying pig!
The back label is even better, giving three alternative definitions of a pig (1. animal 2. untidy person, and 3. the winemaker's bank manager who refused to give him a loan!) although listed as a person with lack of manners or moral principle. You really need to read the back label to enjoy the insult to the banks, very funny!
100% Tempranillo. De-classified Rioja, because he cropped at over the permitted 6 tonnes per hectare. From a 4.5 hectare vineyard, vines 35 years old certified biodynamic.
Bright red fruit Tempranillo on the nose, it's bright and juicy with lovely plummy fruit and a touch of oak. Soft juicy and very drinkable, preferably with pig.
Geol 2006 Costers Del Segre £16.99
The Tomàs Cusiné Geol 2006 is a blend of 45% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Marselan, 5% Cabernet Franc, 5% Syrah and 4% Carinyena.
Deep red cherry color. Forest fruits like mature blakcberry and plum compote. Cedar, eucalyptus, black xocolat, balsamic, pastry, licorice and black currants with elegant and sweet wood in the nose. Wide and silky entrance, with rounded tannins, powerful, structured, deep and persistent aftertaste in the mouth.
Urbina Gran Reserva 1996 Rioja Alto £23.99
95% Tempranillo and 5% Graciano and Mazuelo. This wine comes from the best grapes of the Estate, all of them from vineyards over 20 años old. It has remained 12 months in new oak and 12 months in seven years old oak and has remained 12 months in bottle before it is released for sale.
Dark ruby colour with amber glints, savoury vanilla oak bouquet, elegant, attractive sweet middle palate with very good concentrated ripe fruit, excellent length, classy and complex.
Traslanzas, Cigales 2006 £23.99
Cigales, just west of Ribera del Duero, is the new darling DO in Spain for red wine. The Traslanzas vineyard, owned by the Pinacho family, was planted in 1940 to Tinto del Pais (another local name for the thick-skinned clone of Tempranillo that is planted in Ribera del Duero). Maria Pinacho and Ana Martín met while interning at a local winery, realized the potential of the vineyard and the DO, and formed a partnership. In 1998, Translanzas was the first high-quality red wine to come out of Cigales, and it immediately became a cult wine in Spain. is a wine with a deep and vibrant cherry-red colour and complex and elegant aromas. The primary aromas display hints of violet, lavender and fruits of the forest and are complemented by the fruitiness of the secondary aromas that come from the Tempranillo grape variety, including those of black fruit and liquorice. Toasted wood aromas, cedar and hints of spices such as cloves, vanilla and cinnamon also feature, originating from the wood of the barrels.
In the mouth it is a wine with noticeable body and good expression, and sweet tannins from the grape skins contribute to the overall sensation on the palate. The wine has a long and aromatic finish. It is a particularly distinctive wine that reflects the character of the region and the vineyard, which makes it all the more attractive
Naranjuez, Granada, Organic Pinot Nera 2006
£49.99
The wines from Granada overlooking the Sierra Nevada are not generally well known. Naranjuez lies on the northern slopes of the Sierra Nevada – Spain’s highest mountain range - in the province of Granada in south-east Spain. The winery is in the village of Marchal and the vineyards are at 900 m altitude on the banks of the Alhama river. Antonio Vílchez is the spirit and soul of this tiny project. Wine was already in his blood – Manuel Valenzuela from Bodega Barranco Oscuro is his cousin – and having been influenced by the “natural” wine movement in France, he decided to start making wine in Granada in the late 1990s. He has two hectares in the Pago del Naranjuez, north facing at 900 metres altitude.
Stunning pinot characteristics of just-ripe strawberries and cherries, very burgundian in feel with secondary aromas and tastes of truffles and plums
Our Farringdon store is having a FREE TASTING! Running all day Thursday 24th and Friday 25th from 12pm to late. See the attached flyers, bring your colleagues and friends. Hope to see you there!
ExCellar Open House
Christmas Tasting
Thursday 24th & Friday 25th November
From Midday till late
A great chance to meet and greet the Uk representatives of some of our best and most popular wines
12-1pm Excellar Christmas wine selection (12 wines)
1-2pm Domaine Vacher Sancerre red and white tasting
3-4pm French Masterclass hosted by Les Caves de Pyrene (Thurs Only)
5-6pm Excellar Christmas wine selection (12 wines)
6pm and again at 7pm Tutored Champagne tasting (Veuve Clicquot n.v & Veuve Clicquot Vintage’04 and if there are enough people, Krug!) (Thurs Only)
All these wines will be available for tasting throughout the day as well, so if time is pressing, just stop by and ask one of our staff for a recommendation
We hope that you will be able to join us
