The UnCorker

Weird Wine of the Week: 2004 Anima Negra ‘An’ Mallorca

Here we have a wine that has been so successful at clawing it’s way out of weirdness status, that it’s tempting to think of it as normal. We refer, of course, to the stellar reputation, wide (ish) distribution, abundant good press, and all around Parker-y goodness that rains down on the folks at Anima Negra. But people, let’s do a reality check here! First of all, the wine is from Mallorca - a now swank and touristy island off the coast of Spain where it’s easier to catch a glimpse of Catherine Zeta Jones than it is to find yourself a glass of truly great vino (at least that’s exported). Second of all, the wine is made almost exclusively from an heirloom, indigenous grape varietal that grows only on this surprisingly fertile rock out in the Balearic chain of islands -Callet - which is in itself, a pretty weird product of Mother Nature’s imagination. Thirdly, the winemaker manages to capture the one-off, outsized personality of this place in the bottle in a way that his Catalan neighbors on the mainland - even those in Priorat - are rightly jealous of. Oh, and did we mention that this stuff’s made by a trio of young bucks with a real commitment to naturalistic minimalism - something that is still rare in Spanish winemaking?

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A Manly Rosé: Parés Baltà Ros De Pacs

One of the tiredest arguments in all of winedom is that drinking rosé is nothing to be embarrassed about anymore.   But let’s face it - unless you’re standing on a petanque court with a bunch of Provencal pensioners- it’s not really something dudes order when they are out amongst themselves.  After all, the stuff’s pink.  And that’s all we need to say.  Therefore, those of us who lack total confidence in our ability to project manliness are drawn towards the dark and cranberry-tinted- the more extracted, medium weight entries of the genre.   These look a little less effete in the glass to the casual observer.  And if it tastes strong and bites back a little on the finish so much the better.  Nothing wrong with a little burn going down to compensate for the summery breeziness of the whole thing.

The king of manly Rosés in our opinion is Tavel AOC.   King Philip IV drank the stuff on horseback and declared it the only wine worth drinking - and this from a somber Spaniard who is on record for only laughing in public three times in his entire life.  Tavel can be a full-bodied monster that stands up to aging.  Known for candied aromas but often having surprising gravitas, Tavel’s masculinity is evident in it’s color and intensity of flavor.   But unlike a lot of ham-fisted new world attempts at big rosé - a contradiction in terms that denies what is nice about pink wine in the first place - it maintains it’s lightness, it’s minerality, and it’s refreshing acidity.  For the most part we agree with BTYH that the best rose’s come from France, but if we have a soft spot for dark, macerated asskickers it’s because it appeals to the dude in us (at least, those of us at the UnCorker who are dudes.)

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

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.

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2007 D. Ventura Vina Caneiro Ribeira Sacra

The UnCorker moves it’s way through yet another obscure Spanish DO - this time a tiny neighbor to Bierzo that also specializes in the Mencia grape - DO Ribeira Sacra. Here is an appellation curiously immune to international “tastes” and the Spanish tendency to oak and/or blend their way towards uniform flavor profiles. A region that emphasizes natural wine-making, vine-to-bottle minimalism, finesse, and terroir - a Spanish wine region that’s basically, well, umm… French - at least the pre-modern, pre-Robert Parker France of Kermit Lynch’s imagination. Comparing this wine to a cru Beaujolais is not a stretch - it’s fruity and soft, combines freshness with minerality, and has acidic grip and expressive terroir. It’s fun to drink and great at table, and it doesn’t kick your (or your palette’s) ass. Is it worth $27? Well, that’s another story. That all depends on your point of view, and how much of a wine-store-clerk reactionary anti-snob you are against black, tannic, extracted oak-monsters. We like it all, but frankly - based on pure taste, if this wine was $5-$8 less we would feel better about the deal.

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2005 Vinos Pinol Terra Alta Sucra Natura Organic Red

Deep garnet-purple in color. Aromatic with dark cherry, cassis, rosemary, and kalamata olives.  Northern Rhone-like terroir - with minerality and chalky tannins from the poor, calcerous soils. Great extraction - but a bit stewed & raisiny on the finish. Moderately enjoyable with some spicy, oily salami to cut the tannins - but the flavor is not there and the wine does not present an integrated whole. At $14 a decent play for a certified organic wine and peaked our interest in the obscure D.O. - “Terra Alta” - which is yet another up-and-comer from Northeastern Spain.  DO Terra Alta is a poor-man’s Priorat - throw it in with Montsant and Tarragona - in that it has a similar arid, windswept, scrabbly mountain landscape and limestone soils, and a predilection for foreign-style blends (mostly the indigenous Garnacha and Carignena with the imported wonder grapes Cab. Sav. and Syrah thrown into the mix).

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2005 Bodegas Almanseñas Almansa La Huella de Adaras

Almansa has a tough reputation.   A windswept and battered landscape, it was the site of a crushing defeat for the British army in the War of the Spanish Seccession in 1707.  There is a saying among the Valencians, their neighbors to the north-east - Quan el mal ve d’Almansa, a tots alcança (”Evil things spare no one when they come from Almansa.”)  Up until recently, this maxim would accurately describe the (mostly bulk) wine exported from this D.O.   However, Almansa is sitting on a viticultural sleeper - the Garnacha Tintoera varietal (also known as alicante here) - which is, itself, a bad-ass muscle car of a grape and is the main focus in this region.  It’s not even related to regular Garnacha (Grenache), so don’t try too hard to compare it.  So thick-skinned is this varietal that in the 19th century, during its American heyday,  it used to be grown in California and vinified in New York (after a 7 day unrefrigerated train ride through the American south and west).   But in Almansa, the grape has been a key part of their post-phylloxera replanting strategy because it is high-yielding, a vigorous grower, and is scrappy enough to get a wine industry quickly up and on it’s feet again.  And unlike neighboring Jumilla, whose focus is on the softer and more finessed Monastrell variety, Almansa is committed to working with this problem child.  They don’t even grow much alicante in Alicante D.O.  That’s just how loco these Almansans are!

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2004 Condado de Haza Ribera del Duero

Another delicious Tempranillo, this one from the Ribera del Duero. Ribera del is the Cotes du of Spain, literally the banks(coast, rib) of… these wines tend to be gutsier more extracted wines then Rioja- about 80 miles Northeast, with vineyards on both sides of the Duero river, further West, the famous Douro river of Portugal- The Ribera del Duero lies on a plateau at 850 meters, the summer days are hot, dry and bright, the night temperature can drop as much as 40 degrees- this kind of temperature variation is the key to lively acidity in big extracted red wines, and Condado del Haza has all that. Big, extracted bright fruit, blueberries, cassis, chocolate and espresso dominate the palate along with a bit of smoked meat. On top of all that, bright juicy acidity lend a freshness that makes this wine seem lighter then it is. 15 months in American oak rounds out the tannins and gives notes of cedar and vanilla- another wine for grilled meat or rustic cheeses.

2004 Finca Allende Rioja

From time to time you’ll hear people compare Tempranillo to Pinot Noir, a comparison that almost never stands up to scrutiny- with the 2004 Finca Allende Rioja, the comparison stands up. 100% Tempranillo aged in new and used French oak, this doesn’t taste like Pinot, but like good Pinot, this wine is packed with dense fruit, dark rather then light, has a smoky, earthy aromatic complexity, leather and mint, and with all this denseness and complexity, it has a lightness that dances on the palate and keeps you reaching for the glass. This is modernist Rioja, very drinkable at this tender young age, french oak and no designation on the bottle telling us that its a crianza, which it is-Great to drink now with roast or grilled meat, definitly be cool to lay a few of these down and watch their evolvution. Available for $20-$25, a definite deal.

Montecillo Rioja Crianza 2006

We love a bargain, but when big, aged Riojas wind up in the bargain bin - something  is probably wrong.  This wine is a Crianza, which means this wine was aged at least two years, with six months of that on oak, yet it costs about $10 in US wine shops.  It starts promising, with a concentrated, berried aroma and obvious fortitude.  A  slightly barnyard quality on the nose blows off after a minute or two.  It’s the taste where this wine really breaks down.  Slightly musty, astringent and bark-like, even after 24 hours.   We don’t see the craftmanship here, at least in their entry level Crianza.  And even at this price point, this is not an enjoyable bottle of wine.  This is a big, corporate winery (part of Grupo Osborne) - who also has a controlled image on the web - so be wary of reviews that read like press releases and trust us on this one.

Vall Llach Embruix Priorat 2003

Restaurant Ubeda in Barcelona is not packed, but there are only two staff.. and they are making cocktails (for some reason gin and tonics are a renown choice here), pulling draft beers, bussing dishes, plating food.. and even cooking the food. Our Spanish is terrible - it seems like they are asking us to leave… ‘we’re closing’ the gesturing seems to say as we grab an empty table, “you must leave.” But we soon learn that what they really were saying is, “it will be a while until we can get to you…. how about a shockingly affordable-for-how-delicious it is bottle of wine while you wait?”

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