The UnCorker

Weird Wine of the Week: Primitivo Quiles 2002 Alicante Raspay Reserva Tinto ‘Brut’

May 15, 2009 | In WINE REVIEWS | 1 Comment

Ok. We admit it. The UnCorker staff has maybe 20 years, combined, of serious wine snobbing under our belts – and most of that has been more or less on the cheap. So who are we to call one of the oldest wines in one of the oldest wine countries in the world, weird? Apparently a fancier version of this stuff called Fondillan was on the table of the Sun King himself, Louix XIV, paired with sponge cake. And given that this is a hearty, unfortified Valencian red, that’s a little weird – wouldn’t you say? C’mon, sponge cake? (ahem… just getting warmed up here). Dissecting the label is the first challenge. Primitivo Quiles is the name of the winery. Alicante is the name of the DO (There’s also a grape named Alicante which isn’t popular in it’s namesake DO.) Raspay is the name of the town. Tinto means “red.” (Ok that one was easy.) And ‘Brut’ (quotes are theirs) just doesn’t make any sense whatsoever in this context. We guess that they are just contrasting this to the sweeter, and more famous, Fondillan.

The wine is 100% Monastrell grown on old, low yielding vines still planted on native root-stock… which is very, wonderfully weird given the havoc that phylloxera reaped elsewhere in this region. The wine is vinified in “traditional ways” – and aged exclusively in old oak barrels and in bottle. Now keep in mind that “old oak” is also referred to as neutral oak, meaning that it doesn’t impart that much in terms of flavor components into the wine unless someone is stripping down the wood and re-toasting it alot. Therefore the wine really has only one purpose in those old, mellow barrels, and that’s getting itself oxygenated – which is oak’s other great role in the winemaking process. And just how old are we talking here? Because oak isn’t easy to keep sterilized – which over time introduces all kinds of wonderful fungal and bacterial possibilties into the equation.

Here is the argument part of the post. The crux. Old style winemaking leads to flaws. Oxidation. Reduction. Brettanomyces. TCA (“cork” taint) are among the most common. And all of these flaws have huge impact on flavor – often reducing any talk of terroir to marketing oriented fantasy. But depending on the intensity of those flaws and the way those flaws combine with one another, it can be a formula for a distinctive and even wonderful wine drinking experience. Immediately on the nose it’s apparent that the Raspay Reserva ‘Brut’ has a strong, oxidative quality. Given it’s slightly dull, brick-red hue it’s a bit of shock to get such a prounounced sherry-like first whiff. Then the flavor is hard to place – almost sweet, but not quite. A lot of secondary aromas -such as a black, ripe quality that would be called stewed or raisiny in lesser wines, but comes across as ripasso-like here. With some time open and after some food (we had spicy sausage & roasted tomato), comes this lingering briary fruit quality (blackberry, cassis) and a strong cocoa’d finish. The wine feels very complete and balanced, with integrated tannins and even a sweet-tart acidity showing. Given that we paid $23 for this, who is complaining? At this price point – too high to be a daily drinker and too low to make big demands- one can really only ask one thing from a wine… don’t bore me. This one is weird, wonderful, and packs an incredible punch for the price.