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 Ask wine lovers in India about the Ribera del Duero-located iconic Spanish winery Vega Sicilia and the chances are that they would have heard about it as a well known winery-from SICILY! Ask them about Bodegas Mauro and a few hotels who stock the ‘Prima’, ‘Mauro’ and ‘Vendimia Seleccionada’ labels imported by the Wine Park, would know about them, besides a few new- wave aficionados of top quality Spanish wines. A query about Mariano Garcia would get a blank stare and a nada. An article in delWine as early as 2007 listing ‘Best of Spanish Wines’ by our Spanish wine expert Gerry Dawes included Mauro Vendimia Seleccionada, one of the premium
labels of Bodegas Mauro owned by Mariano Garcia.
Mariano Garcia was the iconic winemaker of the First Growth Vega Sicilia for 30 years from1968-1998. During this time, he had also started his own winery in 1978 in Tudela de Duero near Valladolid-the wine capital city of Ribera del Duero, the Spanish region rubbing shoulders with Rioja for Tempranillo-based quality wines based on Tempranillo. As Alicia Merion de Diego, exports manager of Bodegas Mauro, who was accompanying Garcia on her maiden trip to India and doubling up as an interpreter for the non-English speaking boss, sitting next to me on the dining table, explains to me, the winery was set up before the appellation D.O. came into being.
When Ribera del Duero DO (it came into existence a couple of years after Bodegas Mauro was founded), the winery location fell outside the designated appellation. Thus, Mauro wines are labeled as Vino de la Terra de Castilla y Leon (roughly the equivalent of Italian IGTs where the producer decides to break away from the strict rules framed by the government bodies).
Bodegas Maurodos
Mariano purchased another winery recently near San Roman de Hornija in the Toro D.O. and simply named it Bodegas Mauro II (Bodegas Maurodos). This is a relatively new region coming up very fast. There is plenty of sunshine and a big night and day temperature difference. The wines are structured and elegant, balanced, with refined tannins and deep minerality. ‘Prima’ is the entry level wine and San Román is designed to improve in the bottle. Maximum numbers of French winemakers have chosen to set up wineries in this region of Spain because of the terroir and micro-climate.
A gastronomical experience
 It was a pleasure to accept the invite to a dinner hosted by Mr. Ramon Blecua, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Spain and his charming wife Nupur Tron at their residence in Chanakyapuri. The evening started with my favourite Spanish white, Leiras DO Rias Baixas 2011- a delicious 100% Albariño, like most wines from the region. It also worked as a perfect ice breaker before we sat down for dinner. The enticing floral whiff and the typical complex fruit flavours from Albariño were a welcome start.
The first wine at the table was Prima’09 from Bodegas Maurodos- made with 90% Tempranillo and 10% Grenache. Uncorked by Alicia, the dark inky coloured, full bodied wine was intensely perfumed with aromas of jungle berry fruits. There was a shade of oaky-ness in the red berry flavours but tannins were juicy and soft. It was a perfect wine for the Tapas, a big spread of which was a precursor for the food and wine duets for the evening. Tortilla de patatas, marinated anchovies with salsa, tomato stuffed with feta cheese and black olive tapenade, Iberico ham and ajoblanco cold soup decorated the side table in the dining room so beautifully that one did not feel like disturbing the placement until someone coaxed me into trying the anchovies on the bread with tomato salsa spread. I am no fan of anchovies due to their excessive saltiness, but this dish was so delicious that I quietly tucked in another helping to release me from the aversion.
‘Mauro 2008’ that followed was an interesting blend of 90% Tempranillo, the balance being Shiraz which added a shade of spiciness and complexity. A fruit-forward and yet age-worthy wine, it was nicely concentrated but not over-extracted. The two wines made such perfect mates with food that one forgot about the VS and the iconic Terreus yet to follow and we had an unpardonable numbers of refills.
Culinary Skills
I had heard about Mariano as a great winemaker but the real discovery was Ramon Blecua as a Chef par excellence. It took a few moments before finding out that the whole dinner had been masterminded and prepared by him with a little help from his wife Nupur Tron. She said, ‘he is a passionate cook. We both love to cook and receive friends over.’ She had prepared the Mediterranean style sea bass with capers and olives with a tomato sauce, roasted pearl potatoes and cherry tomatoes which I presumed was the only main dish and devoured it with wine. It turned out that the ‘Grilled Sea-bass with Mediterranean dressing a la Nupur’ as her husband Ramon has named it, was just the first of three!! And it had been cooked expertly to go with ‘Mauro’ and the next wine Mauro Vendimia Seleccionada (VS) ’06, which was a bold and powerful wine with full mouth-feel, flavours of berries, oak, vanilla, minerals and chocolate with a long and complex after-taste- truly a wine for the connoisseurs.
 ‘Roasted lamb with dates and almond sauce’ for me was the dish of the evening. It brought out not only the best in the Mauro VS but was a heavenly companion for the Coq au vin that followed and I could merely take a couple of morsels. In the absence of an announced Menu and the known Spanish penchant for tapas, one had assumed that only one main course would be served to enjoy the top-ended final wine- the single vineyard Terreus ‘04. Despite Ramos’ warning that if one wanted to be invited again, it was mandatory to participate in this grand finale, it was not physically feasible to eat or drink anymore!
And here is another plausible explanation. The perfumed San Roman 2008 with chocolate and mocha spelt all over and the elegant Terreus 2004 were delicious and probably will age for the next 20 years; but they had high alcohol levels- Terreus had 15%! They were tiring wines and after a while one could feel the wine getting the better of you. This is perhaps due to the hot climate (in Valladolid and Delhi) and a lot of sunshine resulting in the over-ripe Tempranillo fruit that made the ‘Salman Khan’ type red wine slow down my reflexes faster.
It would be difficult to find immediate takers for Terreus in India because of its price but Prima, Mauro, Mauro VS and San Roman are opulent and homogenous wines that showcase the skills of Mariano Garcia, the iconic winemaker from Spain. Interestingly, with all of them having 90-100% Tempranillo, the flavours were similar-the wines just kept on getting more opulent, powerful and elegant as we kept going up the ladder of wine opulence, concentration and power. Vishal Kadakia of Wine Park deserves an ovation for adding yet another quality wine to his portfolio.
Subhash Arora
Tags: Mariano Garcia, Bodegas Mauro, Vega Sicilia, Ribera del Duero, Valladolid, Bodegas Maurodos, Mauro VS, San Roman, San Roman |