Aldi Buys Wine From Utiel-Requena-UK Goes Mad For It!

Aldi´s Sell Out Winner!

 

Success story of the last couple of weeks must belong to  supermarket Aldi´s wine-buyers and Coviñas , the Requena based co-op who have been working together since 2004/5.

`Toro Loco´, with its screw-top, a fruity red from Tempranillo from the DO Utiel-Requena ( and sold under the basic  Enterizo brand here ) was entered in the recent IWSC ( International Wines and Spirits Competition ) where it picked up a silver medal. Not bad for a supermarket wine costing around 1.70€ here in Spain! All the better that it was competing against wines from around the world, some of which were also awarded a silver medal, but cost a stonking 30 pounds plus! In the UK the price of this little gem is a 3 pounds 59 pence!!!!!

Some clever marketing monkey at Aldi dropped this quickly into the press and guess what?…….Aldi sold all 20,000 bottles in about three minutes flat! In fact contacts in Ipswich tell me it was sold out before it was even in the shops!

There is a big message  here for importers in the UK and bodegas here in the Valencia Region. The local wines  are big, fruity, fresh and very much to the English taste in particular. Moreover with the state of the Spanish economy deals can be done to release wines to the UK which,  despite austerity there as well, will fly off the shelf. Nor is there a need to match the 20k bottles which formed this particular deal. Lots of smaller quality bodegas with limited production can also meet competitive prices in the specialist market amongst small wine merchants. As we reported recently wines from Chozas Carrascal also picked up awards from Decanter and are available from Alizarin Wines and the Earlsfield Deli ( just to prove the point!)

Any UK importers looking for pointers only have to ask!

Word on the streets is that wines from local variety Bobal in particular have been a huge hit at the London Wine Fair with importers particularly impressed…now to get the public gagging for it too!

Well done Coviñas!

 

 

 

Around and About, Vino-Valencia May 2012 and Other Startling News…….

 

Finca Collado 2011 Blanco. Fabulous Wine!

A bitty couple of weeks into recuperation and it has all being going on…or is about to!

Vino-Valencia  is nearing  the summer break at the end of the third season. Actually this year has been smoother than some earlier years with generally less problems with restaurants, venues or bodegas cancelling at the last-minute!

A reminder….originally founded by Piet Bos and Dora Birindelli with input from John Maher, Vino-Valencia was set up to provide a platform for bodegas to promote their ( Valencian ) wines, restaurants to marry some tapas with them and participants to enjoy a social networking evening in Valencia. Three years on Piet has gone back to Beijing and Dora still organises the venues and tapas whilst the onerous task of finding bodegas falls on my shoulders.

Is the organisation still valid and firing on all six-cylinders? I think so!

Last Wednesday around 45 supporters filled the Circulo de las Belles Artes, in the narrow streets between the Lonja and Calle Caballeros in the heart of the city. Whilst there were new faces… a feature of many events this season, there were many regulars there as well. From the start there has been an eclectic mix of English ( mainly retired) looking to try Valencian wines with food, Dutch, Italian and Spanish professionals ( mainly younger people experiencing a world of work some of us can only dream we had the opportunity to have tried ) and others looking to network. Today the interaction is no less vibrant than the first time I attended in October 2009!

Mas de Rander, El Tiemps.

Nor should it be said is the selection of bodegas faltering. Wednesdays event with Finca Collado ( DO Alicante) presenting the new 2011 Blanco, Mas de Rander from Benlloch in Castellon presenting El Tiemps, and Vicente Flors from Les Useres ( also Castellon ) showing Flor de Clotas 2010 was particularly strong, the selection being accepted with great support from those attending!

It was good to see  a number of professionals in the export trade of Spanish produce there as well. Mick Messum of Messum Export who represent Seins from Villena and Pago de Tharsys attended his first event. John Maher whose blog is still very relevant was also there, he of course being the publisher of Joan Martin´s ( doyen of  Valencian wine writers ) works.

The summer break may be coming but Bodegas are being lined up for events from September onwards, an opportunity they need to grasp with  both hands, as the cost to them of publicity is minimal but very widespread and influential!

Awards season is also in full swing. Bodegas from Valencia, Alicante and Utiel-Requena have been pumping up the Golds, silvers and bronzes won at the recent Bruxelles wine fair and the International wine challenge. Needless to say big bodegas such as Murviedro and Coviñas have done very well again but this year it was good to see smaller independents who probably find the cost of entering their wines a bit more difficult, triumphing! Special mention must therefore go to Pago de Tharsys, Dominio de La Vega and Nodus ( Finca El Renegado ) all from Utiel-Requena  and all of whom picked up prestigious awards!

 

Flor de Clotas, Vicente Flors Younger Wine!

Gandia has also held its Concurso de Fidueàs this week, which sadly I did not make it to. Over the weekend the fair has also enjoyed the first Gandia International wine fair with wines from Lanzarote and Argentina included. Lets hope this initiative is successful and continues next year!

One debate seems to have reared its ugly head again with a piece in one of the National newspapers.

The one DO suits all for Valencian wines argument has been running for some time. I have referred to it twice in previous blogs over the last two years. It started with the DO in Utiel-Requena considering adopting a `Wines from Valencia´ description because no-one had heard of the local region or area. The feeling was that Valencia was a bigger name, better known for its prestigious sporting events, and clambering on this bandwagon might be a better bet. Of course those promoting the idea were not the independent bodegas doing all the promotion of local grape varieties and small quality production, but rather the growers with no interest in making wine, rather selling their crop to the co-ops or other producers. They hoped a generic  Valencia title would bring some more cash in against declining income.

Well, rumour has it that almost the last act of the last Valencian Government was to give itself powers to not only combine DO Valencia and DO Utiel-Requena but also absorb the immensely succesful DO Alicante and the rapidly emerging IGP Castellon wines as well! It would be difficult on a normal day to see who would benefit from this, except perhaps the small grower who sells his or her crop to some-one else. I can see benefits for the three or four super companies, Gandia, Murviedro and Cherubino Valsangiacomo and maybe Anecoop. One DO would save on separate labels as they have interests across the three provinces and four DO´s.

Members Enjoy the Wines at Vino-Valencia!

Of course that was all before the corruption and financial mismanagement surrounding the Valencian Government hit the news, with all the major banks needing saving by central government, the prestigious sporting events unravelling one by one….no Americas Cup, Formula 1 every other year, etc etc. Valencia currently stands on the brink of becoming a name synonymous with everything bad in Spain! Certainly not the prestigious name the Government wants to capitalise on to sell its wines!

Needless to say the idea has gone down like a lead balloon in Alicante! A fight back has already been launched suggesting the truth is well ahead of the rumour! In Castellon the mood is split, there are those who believe passionately in reviving the fortunes of one of Spain’s foremost former exporting provinces. Others could see the shortcut offered by the catch-all DO.

This debate looks set to rumble now the cat is out of the bag…..lets hope wise heads prevail! But with the Agriculture Ministry employing those  with family interests in at least one of the four super-bodegas mentioned above it might be considered reasonable comment that the die is already cast……

In which case with the amount of wine sold from Utiel-Requena direct to Rioja bodegas and blended into their final products we might just as well give up on local wine and go for the catch-all `Wines from Spain´DO!

Valencia´s Wine and Food Fair 2012, Observations!

2012 Fair Poster.

 

Officially the 24th Wine , Cava and Spirits and 22nd Valencian Food Fair , the annual `mostra´ has been plying its trade since Monday evening and carries on until Sunday evening, in the dry riverbed in the city’s centre. A week later than originally announced due to its original coincidence with the Andalusian Fair and a big beer festival `Oktoberfest´ (sic)  in the bull-ring causing problems for exhibitors and organisers alike.

Given the crisis in Spain and the change of dates at the last-minute, not to mention many other fairs where Valencian wine could be displayed and enjoyed it is perhaps not surprising that  there are fewer participants this year with some big names missing!

Due to very recent surgery my own visits have been limited to a couple of the evening sessions but I still hope to spend Saturday there as well before the fair closes for another year.

Valencian wine, in common with much Spanish wine, has found an increasing market abroad in the last twelve months, not just bulk wines but also small quality bodegas. This is true of Valencian wines as well, Chozas Carrascal and Vera de Estenas both now have a toe-hold in London through Alizarin wines, Dominio de la Vega are selling cavas through Layton´s, an independent small wine-merchant serving private customers and restaurants (and which I well remember from the `80 s) , Torroja has been selling wine in UK supermarkets for a while as have relative  giants Murviedro and Gandia for some time.

Making its debut this year is Primum Bobal. I have reported on the Association Primum Bobal, the  Requena based organisation taking its name from the local grape variety ( see archives) which seeks to inprove on the quality of the variety and is researching clones, soil quality etc as well as promoting the wines from the seven bodegas which currently form it. Although I have been lucky to try deposit samples a couple of times before, most notedly in December last year, the wine has now been released in its distinct, blue-labelled bottle with braille. Pere Mercador, spokesperson for the group has been ably dispensing samples to all showing interest!

Primum Bobal 2011.

The aim has been to produce a wine which expresses well the typicity of the variety. Chosen from vineyards with a minimum age of 65 years, and with a rigourous selection of grapes for the final selection, the wine has been made by wine makers in the vanguard of enology with the variety.

And they have succeeded! Bobal can have an incredible depth of fruit and this young  wine displays this by the bucket load! An intense cherry red with long legs and a purple blue edge. On the nose cherry, strawberry and raspberry with a spicy note, whilst in the mouth the fruit is balanced by a fresh acidity, particularly notable being boiled sweets. This is a young fruity fresh `nouveau´and well worth the wait for its release!

It is always nice to chat with friends at this fair and I had a brief opportunity to talk with Mariano Taberner of Bodegas Cueva. Some changes are afoot at the bodega and new partners are being sought for the enterprise. For those who wish to part own a bodega and make their own wine this is an innovative opportunity. Mariano has always adopted an innovative approach to biodynamic wine-making. He is prepared to share that experience with new partners making the facilities of the bodega available together with training in wine making as well as a space where those partners can hold events and meals and stay at the bodega which dates from the 18th century, in the hamlet of La Portera. More information direct from Mariano ( www.bodegascueava.com).

 

Pere Mercador, Spokesperson for Primum Bobal.

It must not be forgotten that the fair follows the annual tasting by Els bodeguers, the independent wine-shops of the region. Many of the wines selected are showcased at the fair and notable winners from Castellon this year were DiVinos with their Odisea and Perdicion wines claiming three prizes in different categories. We enjoyed a glass of the Rosado from Cabernet Sauvignon with its red currant fruit with Carmina from the bodega.

On the subject of Rosados we also tried the Parreño from pure Bobal with Louis LaTorre and Manel Guasp from the Venta del Moro bodega which is also a prizewinner….most notably knocking the Coviñas brands of their traditional top spots. Together with the excellent Rosado from Merlot from Finca Collado, summer drinking is going to be exceptional in 2012!!!!!!

Thankfully the cheeses from Cati, La Sabina and Gozales Romero from sheep and goats milk are available again this year together with a fine range of local sausages, breads, chocolate and of course the special clochinas ( mussels) from the region. More of these after Saturday´s visit!

There is also an increasing number of real ales in bottles being produced in Valencia, with micro-breweries spring up all over. This fair seems to have around eight stalls showing these beers some of which will need further examination.

One bodega which warranted further examination in the early part of the fair was Los Pinos the Fontanars based bodega whose wines I have not seen for a couple of years. Immediately it can be said that this is a bodega which I have on my list to visit. Enrique Francisco enthusiastically showed us three wines from this ecologic bodega.

The first was a white `Brote´from Verdil and Viognier, the former from vines with 70 years of age. Pale rose gold, clean and bright with long legs. On the nose tropical fruits, lots of natural sugar and very concentrated. The wine is barrel fermented in french oak before stabilisation in stainless steel to harmonise the fruit with the oak…and very successfully! In the mouth the wood is nicely balanced with rich fruit and fresh acidity……I have noted this is one of the best whites so far tried at the fair…..right up there with Finca Collado 2011, Vera de Estenas Macabeo 2011 and Marsilea Gewurtztraminer 2011.

 

One of the Cheese producers.

The Tinto Barrica is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Tempranillo, is a multiple prizewinner at overseas fairs. A very young medium to deep cherry  red, with very long legs. On the nose wonderful fruit, black cherries, a sweetness, jam, fruits of the forest. It also has violets in-depth, for me a hint of Syrah which adds a spikiness to the blend. In the mouth this is marked as touch of bitterness in the wonderful cherry fruit which rolled over and around the tongue! A lovely wine.

Third wine was Los Pinos 0% a brave wine with no preservatives at all……not a non-alcoholic wine! As well as being slphur free the wine was produced by natural yeasts rather than starter variety. Rafa Cambra who is consultant Enologist to the bodega has blended 50%Monastrell, with around 25% each of Garnacha and Syrah. The young wine was purple, coating the glass, and very deep with very long glycerinous legs.

On the nose very young but jammy fruit, concentrated, with a touch of vanilla. In the mouth an explosion of fruit and memories of a wine which needs time to settle and evolve in bottle before I evaluate it again.

A good start to a fair with its usual very friendly atmosphere and generous welcomes from many bodegas such as Vera de Estenas, Chozas Carrascal, Vinya Natur and others still to visit!

And so to rest before taking to the crutches for a final visit and a chat with some very specific bodegas tomorrow!