Pinot Gris/Pinot Grigio (grey Pinot) – this grape is very extensively available in Oregon, but California grows a large amount of it as well. At 17,000+ acres it is one of the top 5 white grapes grown in California. You can find excellent Pinot Gris all up and down the USA West Coast, but certainly plenty of it from California. It is dry, fresh, acidic, and full of life. Flavors of honeysuckle, almonds and some spiciness to it is often in the glass. It is a lovely grape. A nice white wine only winemaker that offers a number of Pinot Grigio’s is Massican. Make sure you try some Pinot Gris from either California, Oregon or even Alsace France as these places have great Pinot Gris, that is much different (better?) than say that average $17 Pinot Grigio from Italy.

Let’s move onto special red varieties with so much to offer:

Merlot – this is a special grape that is truly loved in France, but less so in the USA. It is a medium to full bodied grape that can do wonders in the lead role. I love it, especially special ones from Napa Valley where the grape does exceptionally well. My favorite Merlot and most likely the most expensive wines I own, comes from the Sullivan Collection. Delicious, so complex, and almost worthy of that lofty price. If you want a more introductory Merlot, try a bottle of Duckhorn Three Palms Merlot, which is about $100. Or look at this post on the Comeback of Merlot in California, which offers really excellent suggestions. Thanks WE!

Zinfandel – If you have not tried really well made Zinfandel from California you should. It is perhaps the most versatile of the grape varieties in this blog. It can go from elegant, and crisp and light, to very rich, dark and brooding, so the variety has a tremendous spectrum. Usually the wines in the store are big and tannic, and are referred to as jammy. I would recommend you try a really special winemaker team that exists at Turley wine cellars. Turley specializes in the very best old vine vineyards of Zinfandel across California and their selections are so good. I buy from them, whenever I feel I need more 5 star Zinfandel. Turley can be found in the best restaurants where the sommelier really knows their stuff, and many of the wines are under $100 a bottle, which compared to Bordeaux blends out of Napa, is a bargain.

Pinot Noir (or Grenache) – Pinot Noir is extensively grown on the West Coast, and with superior results. This grape really loves the cool climate of the coastal Pacific of North America, we are so blessed out here. The interior version of Pinot Noir is Grenache and to a lesser extent other varietals of Rhone. Why? because of their fruity profile yet strong acidity (from elevation) and full body (from thick skins). These are all fruit forward varieties and if you like more fruit forward and less heavy oak or thick tannins, then these two grape varieties are for you. There is so much good Pinot Noir all across both California and (especially) Oregon. Pinot Noir is like the most heralded grape from Oregon, as is the Pinot Gris mentioned above. I think any fairly expensive Pinot Noir from the West Coast is going to do you well, I have found some great ones from Edna Valley and of course Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino to get you going. I am going to send you to this Pinot Noir landing page, at my favorite Wine Enthusiast, where good information is generally free. Enjoy a Pinot Noir tonight in fact, it’s a really luscious, fruit filled grape. Yes you can even try Meiomi which is probably the most well known supermarket Pinot Noir that exists across North America. But many wonder, is that Pinot Noir?

The post Whites and Reds – more hidden California favorites appeared first on Frank's El Dorado wine blog.

Here is a map of the region to give it more clarity.

The wines I drank on my tasting at this roadshow were mostly from DO Rueda, DO Ribera del Duero and one winery each from DO Tierra de Leon and DO Toro. I definitely did not get anywhere close to full exposure across this vast region of course. I also noticed that many of the wineries are family run businesses, and often quite large ones. Some wineries just produce maybe 10,000 to 20,000 cases which is not a lot for an export driven winery, and one producer Farina produces over 80,000 cases of wine, quite a lot, and this seemed to be the biggest winery at the event.

Much of the wine served was either Malvasia (for the dominant white varietal shown across the room), and in the reds, it was very much a show of beautifully complex Tempranillo. So good were these Tempranillo’s, they would rival the best Cabernet’s that California provides. So much complexity and grandeur in these wines. Spain’s flagship grape is the Tempranillo grape, about 80-90% of the world’s Tempranillo is grown in Spain.

So what wines really impressed us?

Our favorite for both Malvasia (old vines) and also old vine Tempranillo was from Dominio Del Bienamado. Both their old vine Coray (Tempranillo) and their MarMaria (Malvasia) were to die for. Tons of expressive nose, deep nuttiness and stone fruit on the Malvasia that had a lingering finish that was beyond greatness. The Coray drank as well as any complex Cabernet from Napa. These wines were simply stunning.

Other top mentions were:
Castillo Del Buen Amor (the Castle of Great Love) – which brought a delicious Pinot Noir that was so special it was also loved by the wine importer that is importing this winery fairly soon (to the USA). The Pinot was darker and richer than any Oregon Pinot and had beautifully light pepper spice notes to it, that excited the palate and elevated the finish. It was stunning. You can stay at this castle if you so choose and I am sure you will get access to these 4 varietals that they make at this small adjacent winery.

Protos – had some very nice mid priced Tempranillo’s. This winery is importing into the United States.

Bodegas Y Vinedos Vega De Yuso – Excellent Tempranillo. You get a real taste for how Tempranillo responds to oak with this winery and their 3 incarnations of TresMatas. You get the lighter, balanced, younger feeling TresMatas, out towards the tertiary rich, and oak infused deep Tempranillo that is closer to the Gran Reserva style but not a bombshell either. Delicious ladder of Tempranillo from one terroir. From a bit fruity yet oak infused, to much more layered. I like a bit fruitier simpler Tempranillo, however most of the wineries at this show were showing off their classic big stuff. at 14.5 to 15.5% in ABV and generally big wines. This winery gave us the spectrum all within one Pago. Very nice.

Pago De La Oliva – also very elegant, complex Tempranillo was the offering to the roadshow guests, and they were all excellent, from slightly fruity, to real dinner lover specials, ready to take on any (robust) foods. There was one wine here that was a bit tight and high tannin. It needed more time.

So what is a Pago? A pago in spanish wine terminology is analogous to Cru in French wine. It is one parcel, vineyard, sub-region of an AVA or region. You often see it as part of the name of some of the fine small estate vineyards/wineries, explaining to you that you are getting some wine from a special place or “Pago”.

This small event was excellent, but drinking 50-100 wines is too hard. So I could not focus on all of these fine examples of Spanish Castilla wineries. Many of the wines were in the 89-96 point class in my book. Very impressive, some like the Dominio mentioned above were just blockbuster. Sadly, not enough importers exist for this group, and they were here in the US looking for that support to sell in bulk some of their fine wines into the US west coast market. Some of these wineries are on the east coast already but penetrating the west coast was the goal here. So much Spanish wine is worth your dollar, and of course Spanish wines are also often a bargain at their level of sophistication and top shelf taste and finish. Remember a classic finish is always the hardest thing for a wine to provide so look for that part of the experience.

Enjoy a Spanish wine tonight if you can and see how it delivers from nose, to palate to finish.

The post Castilla y Leon – Tempranillo and Malvasia appeared first on Frank's El Dorado wine blog.