Rioja: Bodegas Alvarez Alfaro

Pablo Alvarez Alfaro set up cellar and vineyards in Aldeanueva de Ebro in rugged Rioja country at the end of the 19th Century, as the story goes, and the winery is still family run today. They have over 60 hetares (150 acres) of their own vineyards, where all the grapes are sourced from for three different wines. Their Viña Vieja is 100% old-vine Tempranillo and aged for eight months in new French oak, and the Crianza at least one year in American and French oak. These three reds were tasted in May 2011. More info on the winery, prices and where they export to follow. I’ve used my ‘new’ scoring system of one, two or three ‘ticks’ (good, very good, fabulous); or just plain 1 to 3 here.

Rioja Crianza 2007 (80% Tempranillo + Mazuelo, Garnacha, Graciano; 13.5% alc.) – still quite coconutty/cedary on nose and palate but it’s concentrated with vibrant blueberry/plum fruit vs liquorice and pepper edges vs savoury tones; firm and tight structure, nice tannins and fresh bite, balanced and elegant too; grainy finish vs berry fruit vs dry/sweet coating. Next day: gets tastier and less oaky with airing, attractive berry and spice vs sweet/dry tannins, more savoury finish. 2

Rioja Crianza 2008 (80% Tempranillo, Mazuelo, Garnacha, Graciano; 14% alc.) – cedary and ‘inky’ tones vs rich berry fruit vs vanilla oak; quite punchy and tight at the moment, refreshing undercurrent vs dark fruit with savoury hints vs cedar and coconut; hasn’t come together yet but it’s promising. 2

Alvarez Alfaro Viña Vieja Tempranillo 2010 (14%) – ‘reductive’ herbal hints layered with a fair bit of vanilla, lively alcohol/acidity combo on the palate vs lots of berry fruit, intense and chunky finish; needs a couple of years to settle down, something a bit different. 1-2

 

bodegasalvarezalfaro.com

Chile: rosé / rosado

Loica Pinot Noir Rosé
from leyda.cl

You’d be right in thinking the latter term should be the one on the bottle, coming from a Spanish speaking country, but virtually all of the 15 pink wines below are labelled as rosé. The message from Chilean winemakers, whose rosados I tried at the London International Wine Fair last week, was the same though. Outside of Chile, people don’t really get the Spanish word for rosé (until they see the wine’s colour, presumably!).

Black cats and black grapes

Black grapes refers to a lively little Italian rosé - sorry, Sicilian (oops, there go the kneecaps...): 2010 Nero d'Avola made by Cantine Settesoli. Weighing in at 12.5% alc. and £4.99 a bottle at Tesco, this zingy vs creamy fruity rosé delivers plenty of redcurrant and raspberry with crisp finish; and is fairly versatile as a foodie wine (venison & red onion burgers from M&S, fish & chips, prawn Balti...).

From http://snickrt.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/gato-negro1.jpg

As for black cats, the Gato Negro range from Vina San Pedro in Chile's Central Valley is an all-round crowd-pleaser with attractive, well-made and easy-drinking wines; especially at  Wine Mark / Russell's Cellars in Belfast where you get a '2 for £9' deal. On the red front, try the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon (13.5%) or the quirkier purple-black 2010 Carmenere (13.5%); and for whites, there's a zesty dry grapefruity 2010 Sauvignon Blanc (12%) or peachy citrus-edged 2010 Chardy. And not forgetting their almost delicious creamy red fruity vs crisp 2010 Cab Sauv rosé. Mini-feature on Chilean rosés / rosados here.
More @ gatonegro.cl