So, the Spanish Value Experiment is over! 23 (The 24th was corked and not replaced) wines from around the country, none from any of the more famous regions and a real wealth of discoveries along the way. If you haven’t been following this mini experiment, it’s worth reading the idea behind it and a list of the wines tasted.
Despite the fact the tasting originated partly as a financial necessity at the time, I really enjoyed it and would certainly consider another related test in the future. The entire point of tasting my way through so many wines from around Spain under a €10 thresh-hold was to determine whether Spanish wine really did offer value under this price point. So, did it? The short answer is…. sort of. There were some exceptionally well made wines but also a lot of quite boring, bland wine and one or two that I couldn’t finish more than a few sips of. Before coming to some conclusions, I thought it would be a good idea to have a look back through my notes and see how my scores panned out as well as where the difficulties lay when they arose. So, where did it go right and where did it go wrong?
Positives
I always intended to take the 5-6 best wines of the experiment and share them as part of a tasting, but at the beginning I was somewhat nervous at it. What if they were perfectly fine wines but lacking excitement or any real character? What if they were all made from the same variety with only slight variations in style? I needn’t have worried as there were actually 8-9 really good wines to select from at the end of the experiment, and narrowing it down to 6 actually took some thought! I’ll share the list with you in a moment, but here’s where the wines did really well:
Balanced oak integration – This has been an issue for me with Spanish wines in the past; huge dollops of new oak, flashy and attention grabbing but ultimately masking the character of a wine almost completely. I was delighted to find 11 wines that had spent a reasonable amount of time in oak barrels and come away with a tasteful, well integrated result. This positive result was almost exclusively based on those aged in French oak – more on the American later when we comes to the negatives.
Integrated alcohol – High alcohol levels was another concern going into this, as the increasingly warm temperatures in already-warm climates can often make for some unbalanced wines. However, this was only an issue on 3 occasions; a remarkably low figure. By contrast, there was delicious wines that ran the gamut from 12.5% ABV all the way up to 14.5% without any trace of the alcohol other than the weight and texture. Bravo!
Indigenous grapes – Remarkably, each of the winning wines was based on a completely separate, indigenous grape variety. This has been a hot topic recently with Jancis Robinson MW and Victor de la Serna jousting online over the varietal complexity of the Spanish wine scene, but this is promising news indeed.
Freshness over power – All the best wines in this experiment displayed freshness, both in the form of balanced acidity and clean, juicy fruit flavours often with mineral nuances, that made them a pleasure to drink. At this price point I think it’s a key factor, as there’s only so much you can spend on viticulture and wine-making whilst still making a profit. There’s no point trying to emulate the bigger, more complex wines at a sub €10 price range; I’ll take a delicious, moreish but simple wine over a flashily oaked, muddled blend anyday of the week.
Careful viticulture – I was interested to see if there was any notable patterns in the viticultural practices used for the best wines of the experiment and indeed there were! Of the 6 best wines, 5 of them were made from grapes growing using organic or biodynamic vineyard practices; I say practices as certifications were few and far between. Now, without knowing the producers personally I can’t say whether this lack of certification is due to the cost or a disagreement with some elements of the rules. Either way, it’s a large number of the best wines and as labour intensive viticulture is notoriously expensive, very encouraging to see at the sub €10 mark!
Negatives
Now, whilst I’m delighted that I had to narrow down my selection, there were also more than a few misses and many of the wines shared the same negative traits again and again. Some were predictable but a few caught me by surprise as well:
Overly oaked – Spanish wine is often accused of relying heavily on oak usage, although often with stunning results. There were 8 wines that I felt were too obviously oaked in the tasting, yet interestingly only one of those had spent time in French oak. Almost exclusively, American oak was the culprit and often came in place of real fruit flavour, as a sort of mask for the wine to wear in public. I suspect this is just a reality of the price point as French oak is so expensive. My view? If you can’t afford to do it properly, don’t! It takes a careful hand to integrate lots of American oak well; two of my favourite producers in Lopez de Heredia and La Rioja Alta rely on it exclusively for their wines. Done badly it gives the wine a confected, sweet aroma and flavour that dominates. I want a touch of that in an Old Fashioned, not in a wine.
Unbalanced blends – So, this was something that caught me by surprise. On 6 separate occasions I was utterly baffled by the grape selection in the wine. Now, I’m not a winemaker and I understand there are commercial pressures and realities to contend with, but sometimes it just felt like ‘This is what we have’ was thrown together with very unbalanced results. Tempranillo, Syrah, Graciano and Petit Verdot… why? That’s what’s grown on the estate, a miscalculation in the winery or a commercial pressure to meet quantities? Conversely, some blends seemed very intelligent and deftly put together, usually with a single grape variety clearly leading, with the supporting grapes adding complexity, freshness and interest.
Residual sugar – This was always a danger at lower price points, as a bit of residual sugar can pave over more than a few cracks in the process. When it’s well integrated, a touch of sugar can make a wine feel softer and plumper without damaging or masking the character of the wine. However on 3 occasions I found that there was excess sugar in the wine that really stood out and made for quite a confected, unpleasant experience. In two of these cases, the wine really promised on the nose so this was a particular let-down and felt unnecessary.
Conclusions
So, in response to whether or not you can pick a bottle of Spanish wine off the shelf and be happy with it at a low price point, it’s a resounding “No”. There was simply too much variability and poor quality wines mixed in with some real gems. It really seemed to come down to the producer as the best wines were all a complete mixture of styles, locations and grape varieties.
It seems like a lot to put my liver through to come to this very brief conclusion, but would I have known had I not tried it? Not for certain and I certainly wouldn’t have encountered the wonderful wines I did otherwise, as they all hail from regions I don’t look for regularly. Perhaps there’s an opportunity to do a similar test over the course of a year but looking at some of the more famous regions individually? Perhaps 20 bottles of Rioja and Ribera del Duero under €10 a bottle, the same for Catalunya, Galicia and so on. My bank balance would certainly be happier than it is trying to accomodate my love of Burgundy.
There’s also a lot to be said for drinking these wines over 2-3 days rather than the normal ‘sip ‘n spit; treatment they’d get at a formal tasting. It allows you to take a note on your first day and compare it to the second, seeing not only whether you were on target but how much that wine has changed over the short period of time.
Best Wines
So, to conclude let’s take a brief look at the best wines tasted. In a rough order of my assessment of quality:
Clos Lojen 2016. This was my favourite wine of the group and only the 2nd I tasted overall! 100% Bobal from DO Manchuela:
Surprisingly light in colour and very pretty on the nose: clean, fresh blackberries and raspberries, violets and sweet herbs. Zesty and fresh on the palate, with firm tannins and the same youthful flavours supported by vibrant, persistent acidity. Remarkably intense and interesting for an entry level wine; I’m a fan and at this price, slightly annoyed at myself not to have tasted it sooner! Outstanding value. 91pts. For a full review, check here.
Jimenez-Landi Bajondillo 2016. A close runner up and absolutely delicious. A Garnacha dominant blend from DO Mentrida near Madrid:
I love the pale, ‘Pinot-like’ colour of these high altitude, Garnacha based wines. Then on the nose; lots of fun! Ripe strawberries and red berries tumble out, with a characteristic note of white pepper, wet stones, light toast and even a hint of green bell pepper (Cabernet Sauvignon makes itself known even in tiny proportions!). Very fresh on the palate, with light but firm tannins and a lovely, sweet-fruited flavour profile. Playful and fruity, yet with a lovely wet-stone sensation on the finish. A dangerous wine at 14.5% ABV considering how quickly it disappeared from my glass! 90pts For a full review, click here
Gaba do Xil 2015. A lovely, fresh and meaty Mencia from Telmo Rodriguez and his team of wine-makers. The baby brother of As Caborcas and an absolute steal at the price:
Bright, cherry red in colour and surprisingly aromatic. Ripe cherries and damsons are complimented by violets, smoked meat and a touch of black pepper; very Northern Rhone! Fresh and slightly firm on the palate, with the same rustic, smokey flavours as the nose and a long, red-fruit inflected finish. This punches well above its weight and is very much in the style of As Caborcas, but at 1/8th of the price. I can see myself drinking a lot more of this in the future. 90pts. For a full review, click here
Celler del Roure Vermell 2016. A ‘new-old’ style of wine from a recovered cellar near Valencia and currently celebrated across the country. Monastrell at its freshest!
A lovely, bright cherry-red colour and softly aromatic on the nose. Ripe, bramble and damson fruit is the first impression, subtly supported by a leafy freshness (no whole-bunch fermentation) and a spicy note of licorice. Dry and refreshing on the palate, with powdery tannins and the same simple but incredibly moreish flavour profile as the nose. Almost as though Monastrell meets Beaujolais, in the very best way. Chalky in texture and with a medium, clean finish. A really solid effort for such an affordable wine. 90pts For a full review, click here
Compania de Vinos del Atlantico Gordo 2014. Who says that Monastrell has to be big and burly? This lovely example from DO Yecla proves otherwise:
Deep ruby in colour, but nowhere near as inky as some examples of Spanish Monastrell. Ripe, juicy dark fruits dominate the nose, surprisingly high-toned and complemented by a herbal freshness (whole bunch fermentation), black pepper, licorice and a hint of game. Very fresh on the palate, with vibrant acidity, ripe, grainy tannins and a slightly drying finish. There’s a very endearing rustic edge to Gordo 2014, and I found the wine benefited from an hour or so in a decanter. Lovely stuff; we’re back on track! 90pts Full a full review, click here
Mesquida Mora Sincronia 2016. This experiment has certainly reignited my curiosity when it comes to the Balearic Islands and much the best was this blend, dominated by the local Mantonegro and Callet:
A lovely bright, ruby colour and full of interest on the nose. Ripe black cherries, red berries, damson and licorice are prominent with a gentle suggestion of oak ageing and soft floral notes; very Mediterranean, and even more so on the palate where the juicy, plump, violet-tinged fruit takes over completely. Refreshing and balanced. No real fireworks but at this price point you wouldn’t expect there to be, yet I would very happily order a glass of this anytime. 89pts Full a full review, click here