Date: Friday 6/7/23
Location: Antonio’s Restaurant, San Juan, PR
Distributor: LuxoWine
Wines:
- Don Jacobo Tempranillo Blanco 2021
- Vine Roots Garnacha Blanca 2019
- Los Corrales de Moncalvillo Maturana Blanca 2019
- Los Corrales de Moncalvillo Maturana Tinta 2018
- Los Corrales de Moncalvillo Maturana Anfora 2018
- Vine Roots Graciano 2020
- Altos de Corral Single Estate Reserva 2015
- Don Jacobo Gran Reserva 2010
- Corral Gran Reserva 1975
It’s been a while since I’ve done a double header. It’s also a complicated thing to do when it’s supposed to be a tasting and you are starting out because the inclination to leave wine in the glass, to me, is not innate. But it wasn’t my first rodeo. I ate well, hydrated and focused on tasting the wines, taking notes, and enjoying the company. This event was later in the day, and it was a different scene. Yes, it was also educational, but it was conducted for a group of wine lovers called Friends of Spanish Wines (Amigos de los Vinos de España) and it was good to see so many friends there.
This association is one of the oldest in Puerto Rico and is very structured in the way they manage the bylaws, boards, and their activities. This tasting in particular comes after the current president, my friend Javier Hernández, coordinated with another friend of ours, Mr. Pedro Jacobo, who is an avid fan of the winery. And so, after coordinating with Bodega’s Corral own Carlos Rubio Villanua, the distributor from Florida, Jeffrey Luidvinovsky and the new local distributor in Puerto Rico, LuxoWine, a fantastic tasting of 9 wines was coordinated for us fans of spanish wines. The event took place in a classic venue for events in Puerto Rico, Antonio’s Restaurant in San Juan, and is a place very familiar to many wine activities over the years.
The plan was simple. Three flights, three distinctive approaches to wine directed by Jeffrey, and an initial greeting from Carlos himself. I enjoyed this tasting for multiple reasons, but if you notice, in just one tasting, we tried 6 single varietal wines. All from Rioja, sharing the story that Rioja is not just Tempranillo. Although with the wines we tried, I would never take anything away from that wonderful grape.
So to the wines…
The first flight was all white wines. It started with the Tempranillo Blanco from 2021 and as the label mentions, made with organic grapes. I only first tried this grape back with this project in 2020, and it was #19. Since then, I’ve tried it a few times, making me more comfortable with understanding how it expresses itself. This one in particular had an aroma of flowers and fuzzy fruit like peaches. It was high in acidity and medium plus finish. The wine craved food. After it we tried the Vine Roots Garnacha Blanca from 2019. It was curious to us all the change in labeling, but it seems this is targeted to the American market. This grape made #61 on my list of grapes back in 2021, and I don’t try it as often. This wine, in particular, spends 3 months in new French oak barrels. The vines are over 50 years old, and it’s considered organic. Right of the bat there didn’t seem to be major differences while looking at the first two, but on aroma there were more notes of citrus here and the acidity wasn’t as high as the first one (as per my scribbled notes).
Finally, we tried Maturana Blanca from Los Corrales de Moncalvillo 2019. #156 of my project and one of my favorite white grapes (and dare I say wines) from this whole endeavor. This wine gave a lot to talk about during the event. First of all, let me just say this is a Rioja Alta wine and 100% the grape. It had a beautiful golden color, great ripe fruit and caramel, it was more delicate, the acidity wasn’t as aggressive, it was very elegant and with a long finish. This wine stays on top of my list.
Between flights, I stepped over a neighboring table to talk to some good friends, people that, like my old man, introduced me into the world of wines. One of them, a dear friend who I know is not a white wine fan, and he told me that the Maturana was a wine he could drink. And you know you are doing something right when you hear something like that.
As we delved into the second flight, we were looking now at red wines but with still a curious undertone. This three wine flight consisted of two wines of the same grape, of the same vineyard, a two year difference but one aged in barrels and the other in amphoras. The third wine was a Graciano, which changed things a bit.
The first one was the Maturana Tinta in Anfora 2020. This wine spent 12 months in clay amphoras of 390 liters, and then it spent 3 months in the bottle. It had a beautiful color and great aroma. of mature red fruit that translated to what I perceived on palate. It had tamed tannins, balanced acidity, and a long finish. I thought this wine was very nice.
Then, we compared it with the Maturana Tinta 2018. This wine spent 12 months in French oak barrels of 225 liters and then 6 months in bottle. So right there, we see the difference of environment between the two wines. The color of this wine was brighter in comparison and had more of an old world feeling in aroma and palate. More mineral, or earthy, and of course elements of the oak present. However, it also wasn’t big on tannins nor acidity. I found the amphora wine with a longer finish, though.
Then came the Graciano. Truth be told, after that competition of those two, it felt out of place. Yet regardless, it was a good representation of that grape, which I’ve become more of a fan since I tried it 100% earlier this year (#154). The wine was fruit forward on aroma with minerality and some elements leather, while on palate it was mainly black fruit and well balanced all around.
Then came the flight people were waiting for. We were going to try three top wines of three great years. Each one shinning with its own light.
The first one was Altos de Corral Single Estate Reserva 2015 Rioja. This is a Rioja Alta. A well structured wine of a great year. Darker color and mature fruit aromas, including plums, blackberries, and anise. On palate, it had licorice, the acidity was perfect, and the finish was medium plus. Very elegant wine.
Then we followed with Don Jacobo Rioja Gran Reserva 2010. If it wasn’t for the wine that came after, this could have been the wine of the night. It was one of the best vintages since 2005 in Rioja, and this wine was a great spokesperson for the year today. 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo, spending the traditional 36 months in american oak and 36 months in bottle. A wine that evolved in glass over the period of time that I was able to leave it there. I’m sure if served earlier, it would have evolved even more. The tannins were medium low, and the acidity felt lighter, but the mature fruit flavors lived long on finish.
Finally we tried something very special. Corral Gran Reserva 1975 Rioja. It’s not every day that one has the opportunity to try a 47 year old wine. To my understanding, they did some relabeling for the 120th anniversary and recorking. They prepared 1,567 bottles for this project, and I’m confident we in Puerto Rico bought a good percentage of those. This was the first Gran Reserva the Corral family made in their new winery in 1974. This wine had 13% alcohol. It was still alive, and if we judge by the color, I would have never thought it was from the 70s. Yet on aroma and palate, the maturity was there full of nuanced aromas and light tannins, and this thing could last in the bottle for a lot longer. After all, it is from a great vintage in Rioja.
Obviously, this wine cast an involuntary shadow over the rest of the wines, and it’s fair. On the one hand is an example of what the winery can do, on the other…it was a 47 year old Rioja. It’s hard to top that. But if we do an honest exercise, there were great wines that night that are worth revisiting on a standalone mode. For my part that Maturana Blanca is something special, the Maturana Tinta in Amphora was a splendid interpretation of that wine, and the Don Jacobo Gran Reserva 2010 is quite nice.
So in the end, it was a very educational night to learn about this winery, this long list of some of their wines, to share notes and opinions with the other aficionados that participated and above all spend times with friends which is what groups like this are supposed to be. I’m glad I was there, and I thank my friends for making me rejoin this group of avid fans of Spain wines.
