Feb 28: Enofusiόn is the wine and drinks specialist area of Madrid Fusion which has not only several wineries take part by setting up stands but also several guided tastings, writes Subhash Arora who attended the very popular Tasting of Marquis de Riscal taking the lead and followed by DO Ribeira Sacra, Prosecco doc and the wines from Torres family estate of Miramar in Sonoma California, giving the tasting an international look
There were 18 different Tastings including wines of Marqués de Riscal, DO Ribeira Sacra (in Galicia), Wines from Toledo, Wines from Prosecco DOC, Gonzales Byass, Californian wines from Miramar (Torres family), Makro, Juve and Camps, Gran Canarias, DO Rueda, Wine Selection of Carlos Delgado, a wine consultant who organized Wines of Spain Tastings some of which I had attended during my earlier trips to Spain.
Marqués de Riscal
Marqués de Riscal is one of the oldest Rioja wineries. Founded in Elciego, Álava in 1858 by Guillermo Hurtado de Amézaga, from the outset it has been a point of reference in the winemaking business at both national and international level. The winery was started after the founder came back after studying about wine in Bordeaux and thus is known to have adopted a style close to the Bordeaux First Growths. It’s not a surprise they export 65% of the production to 110 countries including India 
where they have still not perhaps got the recognition they deserve.
Although Riscal is known as a popular Rioja winemaker, celebrating their 150 year Anniversary in 2008, it had also stated producing white wines in Rueda in 1972 and in fact, the winery was behind the creation of the Denominación de Origen (DO) Rueda in 1980.
Francisco Hurtado de Amézaga, Technical and Production General Director, and his son Luis Hurtado de Amézaga, Technical Director of Marqués de Riscal Rueda, made us visit some of their oldest vineyards of Elciego and Rueda. Following 5 wines were poured to the full house at the venue where one had to pre-register for a seat:
· Gehry Selection (2012) – Made from 100% Tempranillo grapes on the vines that are over 80 Years old, it was a complex, spicy and very well structured, with very ripe fruit and powerful sweet tannins, with a long end and persistent taste.
· Barón de Chirel (2014) - Dark cherry wine, lively, with hardly any signs of evolution yet, it was highly perfumed where the toasted and spicy notes contributed by the French oak stood out along with notes of ripe black fruit. The palate was fresh with soft tannins where very little wood was present. This was also a complex and elegant wine with a long finish.
· Marqués de Riscal 150 Anniversary (2010) – Very dark cherry coloured wine with a roasted, balsamic, complex aromas, had spicy notes of black pepper and cinnamon. On the palate it was well structured, with a big tannic concentration, round and with a long and silky finish.
· Marqués de Riscal Reserva (2014) -Wine of cherry colour, covered with Tempranillo, Graciano and Mazuelo- all 3 grapes of Rioja. Balsamic and spicy aroma of great complexity, with notes of ripe black fruit and slightly toasted. On the palate it had good structure, with dense and rounded and elegant tannins. The finish was long and fresh, with a slight hint of oak.
· Barón de Chirel Viñas Centenarias 2015 – This wine had been chosen in 2017 by the AEPEV, Association of Journalist and Writer of Wine, as the best white wine in barrel in 2017. Made from hand harvested grapes from very old vines over 100 years. It was a wine with a dense, long and tasty mouthfeel . Its natural acidity, thanks to the altitude of the farms at around 900 m ensured a good evolution in the bottle.
That Francisco and Luis Hurtado, were revered by the Spanish audience was clear after the Tasting when people milled around, trying to shake hands with the duo and have a picture taken with them. The family has an iconic hotel of the same name and it was a pleasure to meet them when they invited me to visit their wineries.
Ribeira del Sacra
This is a relatively small and new DO denomination in the North-western part of Spain, in Galicia. Formed in 1996 only, it is known for its red wines from small producers, using Mencia grapes I had tasted in Bierzo last summer. Wines are of light red colour, pale, perfumed and used for early consumption. Godello is the famous white wine variety.
Jose Manuel Rodriguez, President ot the Consortium of D O Ribera Sacra and his technical director Ruth Fernandez Vidal were at hand to present a spectrum of 7 wines with the well known wine journalist Isabel Mijares moderating. The wines were a true discovery-in that relatively unknown, they were delicious and juicy in taste-whites have been my favourites for years. They might not be of interest to the Indian importers at the moment though.
In our next issue we shall including the tasting of Prosecco and Miramar wines of Torres from the USA- due to lack of space in this column. Incidentally, those were the two foreign wines in the above two Tastings which were carried out in Spanish and not easily comprehensible.
Subhash Arora
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