mark lipton

On the Air France flight:

NV Heidsieck Monopole Brut
nose: lightly toasty
palate: slightly creamy, modest acidity, lemony

'07 La Vieille Ferme Blanc Côtes de Ventoux
nose: slightly floral, minerals
palate: simple, correct, decent acidity

'04 Marques de Riscal Rioja Reserva
nose: meaty, floral
palate: red, plummy fruit, perhaps slightly cooked, meat, chalky tannins

Dinner at Monvínic:

'07 Dönnhoff Tonschiefer Riesling Trocken
nose: stones and peaches
palate: bone dry, grapefruit, high acidity

(with a salad of tomatoes and shrimp, dressed with oil)

'07 Telmo Rodriguez Rueda 'Basa'
nose: green, herbal
palate: crisp, lean, modest fruit

(with a selection of charcuterie)

'00 Comte Armand Pommard 1er Clos des Epeneaux
nose: initially Bretty, later turning into pencil lead and tart raspberry
palate: bright, chalky tannins, deep red berry fruit

(with a mushroom salad and pigeon with parmentier)

[N.B.: I had asked Cesar, the sommelier, for advice on which '00 Burg to
open, this one or a Chandon de Briailles Corton. His response was that
the latter was still very tannic, so we opted for the former and had no
regrets]

Wines at El Celler de Can Roca:

NV Albet i Noia "El Celler" Cava
nose: floral, lightly fruity with herbal overtones
palate; delicate mousse, good acidity, very lightly toasty, creamy
texture, herbal finish

This was a mixture of Xarel-lo (the major component), another grape I
didn't write down and Chardonnay (in minor quantities).

'07 Rebholz Riesling Trocken "Im Sonnenschein"
nose: stones, floral, citrus
palate: grapefruit and stones

'05 Can Ràfols dels Caus Xarel-lo 'Pairal' Penedés
nose: slight hint of botrytis, slight note of oxidation
palate: high acidity, dry, slightly oxidative

Hidalgo 'La Panesa' Jerez Fino
nose: butterscotch, nutty
palate: bone dry, nutty, oxidative Sherry flavors

'07 Bodegas Valdesil Valdeorras
nose: minerals, citrus, a hint of flowers
palate: crisp acidity, off-dry

On first whiff, this Godello struck me as very Muscadet-like. In the
mouth, the off-dry character distinguished it. An altogether lovely wine.

'06 Clos Mogador Clos Nelin Priorat Blanco
nose: alcohol, butter, licorice
palate: acidity, rich mouthfeel, white stonefruit

This wine tasted like Roussanne, but is more likely a blend of Grenache
blanc with Macabeo. On its own, the wine was a bit hot, but paired with
the sea bass with olives, this wine was superb. Quite a revelation.

'03 Clos Martinet Priorat
nose: Zinfandel!! spice, pencil lead
palate: high acid, spice, Zinberry fruit

One sniff of this and I turned to Jean and asked her, "What does this
smell like?" Her instantaneous response was "ZInfandel," thereby
confirming that I hadn't lost my marbles. Lively red berry fruit really
reminded us of a well-made Zin, made only a little less believable by
the high acidity. Not overextracted or overripe.

'04 F. Villard St.Joseph
nose: hints of Band-Aid, red fruit
palate; forward fruit, grapefruit acidity, gamey complexity

'90 Lustau Oloroso Abocado
nose: nutty, butterscotch
palate; acidic entry, nuts, peanut butter on the finish

'02 Dr. Bürklin-Wolf RIesling Auslese Gaisbhöhl
nose: orange, apricot, botrytis
palate: high acidity, citrusy flavors

Fernando de Castillo Pedro Ximénez Jerez
nose: raisins, baking spices
palate: intense, thick, raisiny

Monvínic revisited:

'05 Schloss Gobelsburg Riesling Alte Reben
nose: hint of petrol, lime, stone fruit
palate: crisp acidity, rich mouthfeel, citrus

'07 Dönnhoff Riesling Dellchen
nose: lime, apricot/peach
palate: medium body, fruity

Bodegas Pedro Domecq Palo Cortado Capuchino
nose: slightly oxidative, instensely nutty
palate: dry entry, spicy, long finish

Additional wine:

'08 Torres de Casta Rosado
nose: fresh strawberry fruit, stones
palate: crisp acidity, bright, light fruit

(End of travelogue)
Mark Lipton

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michael pronay

The other grape is either Macabeo (= Viura) or Parellada.

M.

mark lipton

That makes sense, and my best guess is that it was Macabeo, but I just
didn't get it written down before I forgot. It's my age showing

Mark Lipton

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lawrence leichtman

Thanks for the notes Mark. Sounds like a 50th birthday well spent.

dalew

Happy birthday and anniversary!
Sounds like nice trip.
Glad the Comte Armand is drinking well, lots of 2000s are.
Interesting you could get so many non-Spanish wines.
My experience was Godello is limited, but I've liked ones I tried,
though Santiago warned me there's much junk

mark lipton

Thanks, Dale. The two places most of the wines come from (Can Roca and
Monvínic) are likely exceptions within Spain. The former is owned by a
guy with an importing business and the latter was founded by a obsessive
wine lover (a la Veritas). Regarding Godello, here's what Victor de la
Serna just told me:

There are several other interesting godello producers in Valdeorras,
Bierzo and Ribeira Sacra now. The names to remember are A Tapada
(Guitián), Rafael Palacios (As Sortes), Valdesil, Joaquín Rebolledo,
Godeval (who are the people who brought the variety back from
near-extinction in the 1970s) and Telmo Rodríguez (Gaba do Xil).

Lastly, I notice that some sites like Snooth list Verdelho as an
alternate name for Godello, which apparently comes from Jancis Robinson.
However, both the producer of Valdesil and VdlS disagree:

Note that you can get godello from northern Portugal too, but in that
case the grape's called gouveio.

Mark Lipton

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