2. Vinateros

The second tasting in London which I attended was named Vinateros, a gathering of Spanish producers organised by a number of importers such as Caves De Pyrène, Modal Wines and Vine Trail. I have bought wines from all of those companies and can recommend them all. There were producers from all over Spain, producers who make wine with different philosophies and types of wine, from sparkling to fortified wines. The event at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Lindley Hall in Westminster attracted large crowds including noted wine writers such as Jamie Goode and Margaret Rand. I cannot claim to know Spanish wines that well but in recent years I have been able to taste a good number and mentioned in a previous post that it is one of the most exciting wine countries at present due to a new generation of producers willing to experiment, many looking to organic, biodynamic and natural methods. That is not to say that more conventional producers are not upping their game, there were some nice examples of such wines here.

I managed to get round 21 of the 93 producers, some tables were crowded and so I couldn’t get to producers such as Envinate for example. There were lots of very good wines, some interesting conversations and confirmation of my statement about Spain. I have selected a few of my favourite wines and apologise to those I have omitted.

I am going to start with my favourite producer on the day. There were probably better individual wines but for the range of wines there were none I enjoyed more than Entre Vinyes. Maria and Pep started their venture in 2010 in the Foix Natural Park in Catalonia. They found some 80 year old abandoned vines and have worked tirelessly to bring them back to life using organic practices. They are passionate about their project and the vitality shows through in the wines. Some of those wines are named Oniric which means dream, reflecting their vision for their work. I liked all of their wines for the freshness and flavour, from PetNat rosé to white and orange wines (named Brisat in local dialect). They use barrels, concrete eggs and stainless steel for raising their wines and even produce some PetNat in cans. Using local varieties such as Xarel-lo, Vermell and Paralleda as well as Muscat and others, the enthusiasm and story of Maria and Pep convinced me to buy some of their wines from Modal and it was a good decision.

One of the most exciting wine regions of Spain in recent years has been along the Atlantic coast and Galicia. I tasted a number of wines from producers here and these were my favourites. Zarate‘s wines based on Albarino grapes were fresh, zippy and fruity, I liked them all though my favourite was the premium El Palomar 21, fermented in barrel and left on lees for a year which gave greater depth to the flavours. The Godello grape brought lovely fresh creaminess from high altitude vines in Dominio do Bibei‘s Lapena 19.

Of the Galician producers my favourite on the day was Fedellos in the Ribeira Sacra area north of Portugal. Conosbrancos 22 is a field blend of white grapes with lovely salinity. The reds were consistently drinkable, I enjoyed the field blend Lomba dos Ares 21 with a good balance of fruit and power and also Eixe 19 made from Merenzoo, Albarello and Negreda grapes (all new to me), the red fruits were full and singing.

I have previously enjoyed wines from Veronica Ortega and it was good to meet her and taste more of her vibrant wines from Bierzo in the north west of the Castilla y Leon region. I liked the red Mencia grape based wines for their cherry fruits such as the pale coloured Cobrana 21 which is blended with white grapes like Palomino and the spicy Roc 20. My favourite though was the white wine La Llorona 21 made with vibrant Godello grapes grown in sandy soils, full of white fruit flavours and saline character. A quick word too for Barco del Corneta in the same region with good concentration from their gobelet trained vines, such as the eponymous white Barco del Corneta 21 from Verdejo grapes.

The Ribeira del Duero reds of Goyo Garcia were extremely impressive, made in white, sandy soils and with no added SO². Deep, powerful, fruity, with extremely well judged balance, the Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) grapes are allowed to express themselves beautifully by very skilled winemaker Goyo Garcia Viadero. He works in vineyards with extreme temperatures which can vary enormously within one day and sells many of his grapes but his own wines should not be underestimated. I liked them all though the lighter Los Quemados 20 was very much to my taste.

Catalunya has been the region I have got to know best and as well as Entre Vinyes I was very taken by the Priorat wines of Clos I Terrasses and Nin-Ortiz. I most enjoyed the Laurel 21 of Clos I Terrasses with its upfront red fruits from Garnacha, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon and the Mas d’En Cocador Nit de Nin 19 of Nin-Ortiz with well blanced fruit and power from Carinena, Garnacha and Garnacha Peluda grapes (it is very expensive though). Priorat producer Terroir Al Limit also showed some good wines especially Pedra de Guix 21 a white wine made from Garnacha Blanca, Macabeo and Pedro Ximenez grapes all vinified separately but blended into a full, fruity sand fresh wine. Sadly I forgot to take a photo of another expensive wine.

Finally I enjoyed the sherry wines of Primitivo Collantes from the lesser known southern area of the sherry region. The family have been producing wines for 130 years and they were very refreshing and fine. I liked the Fossi Amontillado NV with characteristic nuttiness from Palomiino grapes which spend 5 years in the solera system and 8 years maturing. My other favourite was Moscatel NV made from Moscatel grapes matured for 2 years in steel, the wine was sweet but fresh and clean, very well made.

A busy, well organised event with lots of eye opening wines for me with my lack of knowledge of many Spanish wines. There were areas I still found difficult, Rioja and some of the bigger red wines for example. However, I found so many good wines and enjoyed the sheer variety of what was on offer. A week later I attended another tasting (part three of this series). When asked to recommend one producer a wine bar owner said Entre Vinyes, nice to hear confirmation of my choice from Vinateros.