WINE OF THE WEEK. 3 JANUARY 2011

BAROLO        VIRNA BORGOGNO            Preda Sarmassa 2004          Nebbiolo
 Concentrated colour , rather dense and intense, Nose herbs and acidic cherry, nice hazelnut and walnuts from the oak ageing, tasting firm tannins, acid but ripe cherry, rich, nice bitterness, very long, nutty and balanced. 14,5/20
RED. ITALY
http://www.virnabarolo.it/

WINE OF THE WEEK.27 DECEMBER 2010

   RIOJA                  MARTINEZ BUJANDA                Cantos de Valpiedra 2006     Tempranillo

 Very dark, concentrated and medium intense colour, very nice oak and fresh blackcurrant on the nose, tastes juicy, quite rich, fresh blackcurrant, nice integrated oak, quite long, very nice. 14.5/20

RED.SPAIN

www.familiamartinezbujanda.com

WINE OF THE WEEK. 20 DECEMBER 2010

CORNAS             TAIN L'HERMITAGE                  Arènes Sauvages 2005                   Syrah

RED. FRANCE

Very dark,very concentrated and medium lively colour, Smells licorish, ink and hazelnut, very elegant, tasting ripe tannins, licorish and ink, meaty  a  bit , very varietal, nice integrated oak, very rich, nice bitterness, quite long and balanced. 15/20

www.cavedetain.fr

WINE OF THE WEEK. 13 DECEMBER 2010

   SAINT MONT       PLAIMONT     Les vignes retrouvées 2008             Gros Manseng                   WHITE.FRANCE

Nose very nice pomelo and lemon, tastes pomelo, biting and ripe , very long, clean and balanced  14,5/20
http://www.plaimont.com/

WINE OF THE WEEK.6 DECEMBER 2010

                               MENETOU SALON Domaine Fouassier 2008 Sauvignon                    15.5/20
                                                                 WHITE. FRANCE

 Nose superb red fruit , strawberry very ripe,  tastes smooth, rich, ripe lemon, clean, sharp and fruity, ripe melon and lemon, delicious
www.fouassier.fr

WINE OF THE WEEK 29 NOV 2010

BARBERA D'ASTI SUPERIORE

ANDREA FACCIO

Nizza 2006

Barbera

16/20

RED. ITALY

Very concentrated colour, bright and intense, Nice clean mint and eucalyptus on the nose, tasting superb juicy acidity, with integrated red fruit, a bit of pencil and great blackcurrant, clean, smooth and fresh, long finish, great.
http://www.andreafaccio.it/

WINE OF THE WEEK . 22 NOV 2010

RIOJA

TOBELOS

Tahón de Tobelos Reserva 2002

Tempranillo

RED.SPAIN

Dark, dense, liverly colour. Very nice oak and ripe red fruit on the nose, tasting fresh, with superb balance, juicy, nice fruit, elegant oak, smooth and a round finish, very good. 15/20  www.tobelos.com/encina.html

What's Ribera del Bidasoa Superiore?

If I want to give opinions about wines, first you should know what I think about the famous guys's opinions on them. My intention in this blog is simply to release all those feelings I keep about the wines I taste, wineries I  occasionally visit and winegrowers that I often meet in the course of my business.
The number of readers in this blog, the size and pedigree of the wineries I will review do not matter.
My enormous privilege is to be able to rate wines and describe them without analysing if those wines are largely available or not in supermarkets, if that winery is likely to advertise or not, if other journalists have rated that wine better or worse.
I don't taste wines everyday like specialised journalists do but, I have many occasions to taste them in different countries, in different fairs, tastings, events in which I meet winemakers from all around the world.
Therefore, if you want to join me and converse about those wines and people behind them, I will be delighted to do so.
Also, all along those years in the wine trade, I've had the chance to know and spend time with some of those journalists, particularly the british who remain the reference from my point of view.
The americans like Parker, Wine Spec, Wine Enth or Tanzer might be very good at coordinating their appreciations with the US market and making sure every consumer has a lead when they enter any wine store  but, they operate from their offices mainly cause their business requires so.
The brits like Stephen Spurrier, Andrew Jefford, Rosemary George and my favourite: Tim Atkin link business and passion and never give a word on any wine without knowing the land, the men behind, the winemaking, the UK importer's profile. Still, they have to mantain a high proportion of their reviews within supermarket portfolios otherwise Guardian, Observer or Times would get rid of their space in the papers. This is why they created The Wine Gang, for instance, where a bunch of them can speak in depth about wines they love without thinking twice about their distribution.
As said, my limits are zero in those aspects and I will soon start quoting wines. The first review will come from Germany soon as I man my stand (yes, I work as export manager for a winery which I won't review in my pages as long as I work there)  and will be surrounded by superb producers from all corners of the planet in Hamburg next week end.
The event will be Rindchen Weinkontor's annual tasting called Vinorell. Please, have a look at http://www.rindchen.de/
That's all for now folks. Hope you will come up with some opinions as well. In my next appearances, I will explain how I rate the wines and how they will be recorded in my files. You can write down in any language you prefer.  For those languages I don't speak, Google translator will try to do the job for me.

In the meantime...Try to find the vineyards in the Bidasoa river banks!!!!

Agur

Fabián Olaiz