Wine discovery - Spanish wines

Vinothek Ugarte http://www.vinothek-ugarte.ch/

Another pleasant afternoon with the ZIWA Wine Discovery group and this time a first for many to learn about Spanish wines. Vinothek Ugarte is an old friend of ZIWA's and today they hosted a group of 11 wine lovers in their newly renovated wine shop in Zurich Wollishofen, just a short walk away from the station. Usam Ugarte and Belen Largo, the co-managers, made us feel very welcome. We sat at a table prepared for tasting six Spanish wines - one cava, one white and four red wines - and got ready to make notes. Usam poured out generous tasting samples and Belen explained their origins and methods of production in some detail. We were also tempted by tapas selections.

Wine number 1: Extremarium Brut Reserva, DO Cava, Penedes. Belen explained that Cava (Spanish for cave) is made in the traditional champagne method with a second fermentation. The four grape types used were Xarello, Parallada, Macabeo and Chardonnay. First the wine is fermented in a cave, and then bottled. The bottles are stored vertically on the stopper and turned, allowing the sediment to drop to the bottom. Then it is frozen allowing the stopper and sediment to be removed, before adding the final cork. It is left two years to mature. In a genuine Cava, the bubbles rise from the bottom of the glass. This cava tasted of its mineral origins in a wine area in the north-east of Spain and everyone thought it was delicious.

Wine number 2: Terra Prima White 2014, DO Penedes. This wine comes from a small winery near the sea and the vines are grown on old mining soil. It contains grape types Xarello and Riesling. It is a young wine from a dry, mineral area of northern Spain  and tasted well rounded.

Wine number 3: Piedra Lagar 2013, DO Ribera del Duero. This wine is made from the tempranillo grape. We learnt how to aerate it in the glass by swirling the wine around and waiting a while. The climate in 2013 was unusually irregular which affected the grape production. We heard that there was quantity rather than quality in the grapes that year; this is a young wine for everyday drinking. It was light and pleasant with little tannin.

Wine number 4: Pasas November harvest 2013. DO Jumilla. Our second red was manufactured from the Monastrell grape, also known as Mourvedre, from a late harvest which gave it a certain sweetness. A good market has been developed in the Jumilla region, using 30 year old vines. This wine had six months in oak barrels, and has a 14 percent alcohol content. It should be drunk soon. It was my personal favourite and we ordered a case!

Wine number 5: Syrah Val d'Alferche 2012, DO Somontano. This wine was based on 100 percent Syrah grapes and had its distinctive flavour - full, heavy, dark with a taste of licorice. It was aged in oak in an area of Spain just under the Pyrenees. This wine will keep well up to five years.

Wine number 6: Caliza Marques de Grinon 2010, DO Dominio de Valdepusa. This heavy dark wine  was made in a small region in Toledo, central Spain. It contains grape types Shiraz and Petit Verdot. It tasted strong and dry and would be good with food. The wine could be kept until 2020 and will age well.

After this fascinating lesson in wine production and Spanish wine styles, we learnt the very reasonable prices of each one. Ugarte also stocks other wines from Germany, Austria and Portugal for example as well as spirits and liqueurs such as Pisco, and sherry. It is well worth calling in to see their range of products, and the wines will be delivered promptly. So don't wait! Visit their shop or website now. See link above.

 Julia Newton, 18 March 2016.