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Winery: Osborne
Vintage: 2006
Location: Spain
Alcohol: 12.5%
Blend: 100% Tempranillo
Tasting: Wednesday, May 19, 2010 - 4:00 - 7:00 p.m.

This winery was started over 200 years ago, and the Bodegas Montecillo in Rioja came to life 136 years ago, which makes it one of the oldest wineries in the Rioja region.  About 50% of the wine they produce goes to export markets in Europe and North America.  Their emblem, The Osborne Bull, is recognized all over.  The Bull was the idea of the winery’s advertising agency and was born in 1956.  You will see the bull not only on all of their products, but also on billboards and roadside signs.  The largest of the bulls weighs over 4,000 kg and is 14 meters high and is made of metal.  An imposing figure, for sure.  About 16 years ago there was a movement under foot to rid the landscape of various signs and images, one of which was the Osborne Bull.  The Osborne family went to court and the court found that the bull is not just a sign, but after over 50 years, it has also become part of the landscape and culture.

We want you to remember this name:  Maria Martinez-Sierra.  She is a wonderful lady.  When we tell people about her we always say that she is a passionate lady and has a personality a big as all outdoors.  Maria has been the winemaker at Bodegas Osborne for over 30 years.  She is one of Europes’ top winemakers and a huge ambassador for Spanish wines.  There is also a little flirting with what we call ‘the international varietals’, as well.  Grapes such as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz/Syrah are on the menu too.  Not in the wine we are tasting this week, however.  It is 100% Tempranillo from the Rioja region.

We had the pleasure of meeting Maria a few years ago when she was visiting Edmonton.  (Actually she has come to Alberta a few times over the past few years.) We could have listened to this amazing lady for hours on end.  When she speaks about her wine, her true passion shows in her eyes.  She speaks about her wine like one would speak about their children. I swear I saw a twinkle in her eye as she was telling us about her wine.  She has a true love of the Spanish varietals, as you will see when you try this wine.

Maria is also very particular about the wood that the wine is aged in.  She picks the wood from a particular area in France, because the grain of the wood is woven much tighter and therefore adds subtle flavours to the wine, instead of overpowering it.  Osborne also employs their own cooper to make these wonderful barrels.  Not an inexpensive venture for sure.

We have a neat story to tell you.  When we attended the talk with Maria, she was telling us the she only keeps the barrels for a certain period of time and then they reach the end of their life with Osborne.  One of the lovely ladies who used to work with us asked what happened to the barrels once she was done with them (thinking that they would be used for planting and the like).  Maria spoke quite softly and said ‘we sell them to wineries who cannot afford new ones’.

The Rioja region is one of Spain’s most recognizable regions.  You can see on the map, that the area is not huge, by any means.  But man, they make some great wine there.  Tempranillo is king.  The wine we are tasting this week, as I said earlier is 100% Tempranillo.  Tempranillo is often referred to as Spain’s noble grape.  The name comes from the Spanish word ‘temprano’, which means ‘early’.  This is fitting, as the grape ripens earlier than most Spanish grape varieties.

The name Crianza that you see on the bottle is a term used to describe how long the wine has aged in wood and in the bottle before it is allowed to be released.  It is the second of a level of four terms used.  Sin Crianza (which we don’t see in Canada), Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva are the four steps.  As you go up the levels, the wine must be aged for a longer period of time in wood and in the bottle before it is released.  You cannot put any of these names on the bottle unless you adhere to certain regulations.

This wine is aged for a minimum of 1 year in the wood and matures in the winery until it is sold.  That is why you see all these wines from Montecillo that are from 2006 and earlier.

This wine is a cherry red in colour, with aromas and flavors of red berries, raspberry and cherry, red plum, a little vanilla.  It is a medium to full-bodied wine and has a nice finish.  This is a very versatile wine and goes great with many different foods.

Food Pairing:

Pork; beef (try either of these roasted or grilled);  pizza; grilled oily fish.

CSPC:     144493
Price: 

     $16.50 (Minus Winesday 10% discount.)

*Price correct at time of printing. Price subject to change without notice

Richard and I haven’t visited the Australian wines in a while, so I think we will just have to check them out. See you down under next week. Come by and visit with Diana and have a sip and a chat.

Winery: Ironstone Vineyards
Vintage: 2008
Location: California, U.S.A.
Alcohol: 13%
Blend: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Symphony, and Tempranillo
Tasting: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 - 4:00 - 7:00 p.m.

Ironstone Vineyards started with John Krautz in 1948 with only 12 acres of land.  Through the years, those 12 acres turned into 5,000 acres in both the Lodi (pronounced loüdai) region and the Sierra Foothills.  While growing the number of acres, John and his wife Gail gained a reputation for supplying premium grapes to wineries all over the world.  They became one of the top ten wine grape growers in California.  In 1988 the Krautz family then decided that they wanted to create wine of their own.  They brought on award-winning winemaker Steve Miller to launch Krautz Wines, which later became Ironstone Vineyards.

In 1989 on Gail’s family ranch in Murphy’s, California Ironstone’s Wine Aging Caverns were brought to life with dynamite, pick axes, shovels and a crew of miners.  These caverns were also the site of Ironstone’s first tasting room.  Many years into the future to present day and we are now looking at California’s largest winery entertainment complex.

The conditions to age wine are “ideal” inside the caverns.  The temperature is a steady 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15.5 degrees Celsius).  The humidity is 70%, thanks to the natural spring waterfall inside the caverns.  So the wine barrels don’t expand and contract, therefore no leaking wine and “the humidity minimizes evaporation”.

“The caverns hold a maximum of 1,500 French and American oak barrels, each holding sixty gallons of wine.”

“The beautiful wooden doors that grace the entrance to the caverns and the breezeway, as well as the tasting room, are made from 100-year-old redwood fermentation barrels from the Di-Augustini Winery in Plymouth, California, one of the oldest commercial operating wineries in the state.”

You know, our weather outside this week almost seems like we might have (dare I say)… an early spring.  Now I hope we didn’t jinx anything by saying that (cross those fingers).  In keeping with this lovely sunshine and the beautiful temperatures, we are going to taste a sunshine kind of wine from the sunshine state…California.  Ironstone Vineyards calls this wine “Xpression“.

It is a blend of some grapes we know (Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc), but there are also a couple that you may not be familiar with.

Tempranillo is a grape originally from Spain.  It is said to be Spains “noble grape”.  The grape itself is almost blue-black in colour.  On its own, it makes some very tasty wine indeed.

Around the same time that the Krautz family started their vineyards, The Symphony grape was developed by Dr. Olmo at the University of California, Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology. Dr. Olmo crossed a Muscat de Alexandria with a Grenache Gris and came up with this new grape, unique to California, which came to be known as Symphony.

So I bet you are wondering what happens when you mix a very dark grape, like Tempranillo, with the likes of light coloured grapes like Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Symphony.  Well, the skins of the dark Tempranillo grape are only in contact with the light coloured juice for a short period of time.  Just enough time to get that lovely Rose colour.  Then the skins are removed.

What do you get when you add all of these nice grapes together?  Well you get a nice semi-dry wine with flavours of strawberries and cherries with a little watermelon, peaches and even some citrus fruit.  Now doesn’t that sound yummy?

As this is a nice easy lighter style wine, it would be best to chill it prior to sampling.

Food pairing:

Spicy foods like Thai, Chinese and Indian; turkey; ham; fresh berries and some light cheeses.  Ironstone suggests:  “try it with a salad of bib lettuce and fresh grapes topped with Roquefort cheese for a light and refreshing meal.”

CSPC:         715576
Price:

$14.75* (Minus Winesday 10% discount)

*Price Correct at time of printing.  Price subject to change without notice.

Come by, have a chat and enjoy a sip.  See you on Wednesday, February 24, 2010.

Next week we are travelling to Australia.