John Radford writes about Valduero

   

It's entirely possible that you may be tired of me going on about how good Spanish wines are and the amazing value that they represent especially when compared to other European wines. Well, too bad! 

  

It would appear that John Radford, the English wine critic who specialises in Spain, agrees with me. He has just written up our Albillo 2010 (although he has put by mistake 2008 in his notes!) and Valduero 6 años 2004 on his blog and given both wines very good recommendations.

Bodegas Valduero, Gumiel del Mercado (Ribera del Duero)
Profile from THE NEW SPAIN (2004 edition)
www.bodegasvalduero.com,
EST. 1983 - in beguiling old Castilian cellars which were formerly part of a co-operative, this bodega has one of the region's most famous female consultant winemakers - Yolanda García - who has inspired a whole generation of young women to train in the profession. The bodega has 200 ha of vines and although it built a spanking new winery about 2 km out of town in the early 2000s, the oldest wines - and visitors - still go to the 16th-century labyrinth in Gumiel.

 

 

2008 (2010) García Viadero Albillo, IGP Castilla y León - 12% abv - £9-£10 Hurrah! Another formerly-despised grape variety back from the dead, proving the Radford apophthegm that there is no such thing as a crap grape, just crap winemaking. Under the skilled hand of Yolanda García the Albillo gives us a delicious, herby fruit, fresh acidity and a crisp, bone-dry finish. 17/20

 

 2004 Valduero 6 Años Reserva Premium - old-vines Tempranillo - 14% - 24 months in oak (from 4 different countries) plus 48 in bottle - £55-£60
'Meaty', blackberry fruit, rich, subtle oak on the nose, gorgeous rich fruit and toasty oak on the foretaste with some working tannins under the surface, lovely fruit on mid-palate, tannins on length, needs another few years. Best 2014 onwards. 19/20

 

We team-tasted this with an £85 bottle of Rioja, and the Valduero won, especially with slow-roasted shoulder of lamb with leek and rosemary in a red-wine marinade. It had a neck label announcing that Robert Parker had given it 94 points. I didn't need to know that (although I do understand that, for the uninitiated, it's a useful marketing tool) but here's another Radford apophthegm, (paraphrased from the late and mightily unlamented Herman Göering) - 'when I hear the name 'Robert Parker' I reach for my revolver.'

Yolanda García, winemaker extraordinaire
(all pics from the bodega's website)

You can read more of Johns writing at his blog http://johnradfordcom.blogspot.com/

What do you think? Have you tried these wines or other wines from Valduero? Please let us know what you think.

That Special Wine

Wine is a very personal thing indeed so I decided to ask around our office to see what they would choose to have with family and friends this Holiday Season.

Lee Watson - Sales Manager

• 1996 Dom Perignon
• 2004 Valduero Reserva Magnum (Spain) 

Casey Chan - Assistant Sales Manager

"I would like to have the Van Zellers Rufo Douro Tinto 08

 Sweet nose, lovely plum fruit, slightly herbal. Versatile for matching both Chinese & Western dishes. Might go well with your Christmas Pudding too!"

Pierre Tam - Manager China

• Syunka Irdori Junmai Daiginiyo Sake
• 2005 Domaine Jacques Prieur Echezeaux Grand Cru 

Connie Fok - Sales Manager Spasa (Sake)

" I would like to select ' Hatsugokoro Junmai Daiginjyo '  which is full bodied with a little acidic sharpness in the flavor & a slight flower fragrance.

As this sake is on a premium level & packed in gift box, it is also good as a Christmas present as well."

 And for me? I would have to start the day sharing a bottle of 1997 Louis Roederer Cristal with my wife, then a bottle of 1990 Valduero Gran Reserva 12 year with lunch and finish the day sipping some 2006 Quinta Vale D. Maria LBV Port with my grand father.

On behalf of all of us at Saveurs I would like to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.

Cheers!

Dean Aslin

Marketing Manager

Wine Makers for the International Wine & Spirits Fair November 4,5,6

With the HKTDC International Wine & Spirits Fair being held in November comes an opportunity to have some of the wine industry's talented wine makers and owners come to Hong Kong. We are pleased to introduce them to you.

Unfortunately Edouard has found out that he needs to have a minor operation at this time so he can not attend. However we will still have his wines available for tasting during the event.

We will be having many dinners and tastings outside of the fair that will give you a chance to get to know and experience the passion that these wine makers have for making great wines.

Stay tuned for more details.

If you would really like to attend a particular event send us an email to marketing@saveurs.com.hk and we will let you know as soon as the events are confirmed. 

Fine & Rare Wine

One thing that makes Saveurs a bit different to other wine suppliers is that we keep a large range of rare and special wines. In fact, we actually carry library stock of many of our labels.

For you this means that you can purchase fine and rare wines without having to search around and without taking the risk of buying at auctions. We have searched through our stock and selected a few limited stock items for you that are very special indeed.


Champagne
1997 Louis Roederer Cristal            IWC90   750ml   $2,050    2 Available
1998 Moet Chandon Rose                WS90   750ml      $550    2 Available

Spain
1990 Vega Sicilia, Unico (Artist Label)     WS95      1.5l   $7,240    6 Available
1990 Valduero, Gran Reserva 12 Years    N/R    750ml      $975    6 Available


Rhone Valley
1999 E Guigal La Torque, Cote Rotie                     WA100   750ml   $5,880    3 Available
2006 Yves Cuilleron, Les Chaillets Vieilles Vignes    WS94   750ml      $750    5 Available

USA
2000 Forman, Cabernet Sauvignon   WA89   750ml      $600    3 Available

Very Rare Vertical - USA
Dalla Valle Maya Proprietary Red    89, 90, 91, 92   4 x 750ml   $28,900    1 Only

Alsace
2001 Domaine Marcel Deiss, Burlenberg Pinot Noir      WS90   750ml      $385    6 Available
2000 Domaine Marcel Deiss, Altenberg de Bergheim   WA98   750ml   $1,025    3 Available
2003 Domaine Marcel Deiss, Gewurztraminer               WS91   750ml      $300    7 Available

Burgundy
2002 Antonin Rodet, Mersault 1er Cru Perrieres   WA91   750ml   $300    10 Available

IWC = International Wine Cellar, WS = Wine Spectator, WA = Wine Advocate, N/R = Not Rated

If you would like to know more about these wines or would like a full list please contact Dean at +852 9730 0781 or deanaslin@saveurs.com.hk

Over 90 under $500

We are often asked to recommend a good wine that is not too expensive. So we pulled out a selection that we think are suitable for many different occasions. All of these wines are rated at 90 points or over and are under $500.

Burgundy

D. Jacques Prieur Beaune 1er Cru Les Champs Pimont, 2006         BH90      750ml    $455       

D. Jacques Prieur Beaune 1er Cru Les Champs Pimont, 2007         BH91      750ml    $470      

Alsace

D. Marcel Deiss, Gewürztraminer Bergheim, 2005                            WA90     750ml    $300      

Rhone Valley

D. Les Pallieres, Gigondas, 2003                                                     WA90      750ml    $260      

D. Courbis, (Les Eygats), Cornas, 1997                                           WS90      750ml    $380      

Spain

Valduero, Reserva, 2004                                                                  WA91      750ml    $300      

Australia

RockBare, Barossa Babe Shiraz, 2005                                             WS90      750ml    $260      

Portugal

Quinta de Roriz, Reserva Douro Tinto, 2004                                    WA92      750ml    $310

We have over 70 wines in stock that fall in to this category so if you don't see the one you are looking for we are happy to help you select.

Contact Dean on +852 9730 0781 or deanaslin@saveurs.com.hk    

2009 Vintage Report Ribera del Duero

I recently asked the hardworking team at Valduero in the Ribera del Duero, Spain, if they could give us some insight into the 2009 vintage for them. This is what they had to say:

Having become accustomed to very stressful and busy vintages, we have to recognize that this has been one of the most relaxing we have had in the last few years.

At the beginning of September we had a very high Baume and feared that the harvest would have to start a lot sooner than usual. Suddenly the Baume stabilized at 13º, while the phenolic ripening (the skin, the seeds, the tannins) continued at a good pace. From then on we didn’t get a drop of rain. Consequently, the grape did not receive any water and the components didn’t dilute.

In the end, it was very dry at harvest, which made the work in the field a lot easier. There is even a chance that this could be one of the best vintages of the past 5 years, closely competing with 2004.

With regard to the white Albillo; due to the lack of rain we had a very healthy grape that allowed us to delay the harvest until the 16th of October, something very unusual. That same night we were lucky enough to see the temperature drop to 0º, so the grape entered the winery at a really low temperature, producing a very good maceration prior to fermentation.

This vintage, we have again been among the last five wineries in Ribera de Duero to finish the harvest, putting phenolic ripening as a priority. This differentiates us from many of the other wineries in the Valladolid area. 

So it all sounds very promising. Export Manager, Roger Matthews, went on to say that the 2009 has recently been released and is already showing the quality they expected. "Bursting with apricot and ripe peach" he says.

Dean.

SPANISH WINES IN A TRADITIONAL STYLE

Nowadays it's easy to pick a wine from Spain with a more approachable style. Luscious forward fruit, nice oak integration, good balance, and tannins that, once aged, sit beautifully on the palate. These are great wines and very affordable, but I have started to see an increase in people trying to find Spanish wines with a taste profile of a more traditional style.

It seems people are looking for something a bit, dare I say it, "rustic". A traditional wine will have thinner fruit concentration, it will have harsher tannins, it will be aged in larger old oak barrels and the grapes will be harvested earlier before full ripeness. A wine of a traditional style will seem dull and thin to the majority of wine lovers. These wines are likely to be medium body with less concentration; a wine that you can even smell and maybe taste the winery as well as the terroir; a more earthy wine, with fruit that is more stewed than juicy; sometimes the wine shows some herbal and tea tones the older they get as the fruit disappears and the earth, wood and tobacco takes over.

Personally, I love these wines, but they can be difficult to understand. Lovers of these wines say they have soul, and new modern wines are boring. I'm a relatively recent wine lover and sometimes I can find them too different for my palate and I crave for more fruit. The majority of my first wines were mostly new world which is a vastly different style.

If you are like me and are looking to experience wines of this style then I suggest looking at the Ribera del Duero region. They're not that easy to find so I recommend starting with our own bodega (winery) Valduero. This bodega delivers wines that are a mix of traditional and more modern styles. One particular wine I tasted recently has both taste profiles; a beautiful experience. The wine has been aged for a total of 6 years consisting of 3 years in new Canadian and French oak and 3 years in the bottle before release. It was the Valduero 1999 6 Anos! The wine shows modern styles with its dark ruby colour, supple fruity palate, black currents and black berries plus a traditional feeling of damp earth tones, tobacco and cedar wood. The flavours even mature in the mouth as you drink and enjoying it with a rack of lamb is truly amazing.

The wines from Valduero range from the modern fruit forward entry levels of Arbucala for drinking young through to the Gran Reserva with a mix of traditional and modern styles, suitable for drinking from 10 years old.

The Valduero 6 Anos and Valduero 12 Anos display the history of Ribera del Duero in a bottle. I highly recommend them for that traditional style made in a modern Bodega.

Once you taste a Valduero wine you can tell they are definitely an honest bodega trying to keep with tradition in viticulture and vinification, but seem to use the modern methods with caution and care, this will show through once you try the wine



Lee Watson.



Lee Watson is Sales Manager with Saveurs International (Asia) Limited.