Fun, you can even get the Marques de Caceres and Marques de Riscal over here … . I think this de Caceres is OK, it’s an nice wine for its price and it proves that 90% of wines available are too expensive for what they have to offer. It’s possible to make a decent bottle of wine for this price, so, if you can’t don’t 😉 . Also, their Gran reserva’s are quite good (the 1998 was remarkable in QPR).
Anyway: QOTD: I am not that into Spanish wine. I know they can be great, but, I don’t know … maybe I just always took the wrong turn right in the wine shop. So, favourite … nah, I can’t say I have one. A nice one I had three months ago was a Priorat Sangenis i Vaqué Por. Very Old World, austere and dirty, but great in complexity. The next one I want to try is a Cims de Porrera. I want to know what the buzz is all about. C ya!

The wine that really changed my world was a 1970 CUNE Gran Reserva, purchased maybe in ’84. I found a dusty case of it in the basement of the old Sam’s Wine shop in Chicago. I think it was under $8 a bottle. Absolutely stunning. My friend whom I’ve shared a decades long battle of wine upmanship still talks about it today. It totally blew away the 4th growth Bordeaux’s that we were barely able to afford at the time. Riojas and Spanish wines in general continue to provide great value.

The first spanish wine I ever tried and blew me away, was Roda I 1998. What a magnificient wine that was!

I think that with your comment on Marqués de Riscal you are keeping away many people from spanish wines, as that is probably the only spanish wine you may find in many restaurants. And the 2001 is really spectacular just for the same price as the 2002. You should fix that, Gary.

Awesome! lovin’ the Spanish wines. QOTD1: Nope, first I had was Baron De Ley. QOTD2: and I liked the Baron De Ley. Also 2005 Maximo was killer.
How about a “Question of the Comments”?!? QOTC: Where were you and who were you with when you drank your first Spanish wine? I was with my wife and my boss and her family. It was at a Christmas party two years ago. At least that is all I remember of it.

Salceda – Conde De La Salceda 1987 (pretty sure) or 1989. Have to check the bottle because it’s sitting on top of my China Cabinet. Others came close but this was tremendous. Also had some good experiences with Finca Valpiedra ’95 and Reyes 1994 after the bubbles went away. Allende 2001 Reserve nice but some 2001’s need time.

Favorite spanish wine…El Nido ’03. Next drinking wine…El Nido Clio ’03!!! Always GREAT!!!
Also, I was lucky enough to drink my first Spanish wine in Spain…the Marques de Caceras Rioja.

We love the ’04 Pedrosa. Ready to drink NOW. ’03’s are good, too, but a little tight — needs a bit more decanting.

Best ? 1971 Vega Sicilia Unico, drank in 1997 during a business dinner. Perfect wine !

Next ? 03´CLIO

Gary,
We just finished a bottle of Lopez de Heredia Reserva with our 2:00 meal, a Chicken breast in a pepper sauce. It is as you say a great food wine and a lot of chocolate covered cherry comes through. Let’s get more of the Vinos Españoles on here. You are fantastic and it is a real treat watching you from Pamplona Spain (Close to the Rioja Wine Country) but you must experience some Vinos from Navarra also, I think you would find some very interesting quality for the price.
A fan
Alicia Garijo

I personally think the Marques Des Riscal is a pretty damn good wine for $10 bucks, that’s what a local shop has it at. I see the vegetal notes that you have, not the dentist office funk though. I thought the wine had a nice spice too it as well as a thick texture which was impressive with earth-forward fruit. I’,m not saying this is a great bottle, but it’s better than 75, I would say 85 at least. I think you were biased in this selection Gary, sadly it’s one of the first time I’ve seen this from you. I will be cracking another bottle soon to make sure I was right on this.

QOTD: Good call GV, the Marques de Riscal was the first Spanish wine I had. Impressive.

You were totally right about the 2002 Marques Des Riscal (at least the bottle I got). It was one of the first wines I bought since I started watching your show. I hadn’t gotten to this episode yet and I bought the wine because it was the only Rioja that the nearest liquor store carried! I got the Riscal and a 2004 Louis Jadot Pinot Noir Bourgogne. Not going back there again!

I let the wine breathe for a couple hours to give it a fair chance. As I first smelled the bottle to check for any corkiness, I immediately shook my head and started laughing because it was so close to what you described. What a shame.
The 2002 Riscal I got did have that aniseptic, medical office odor about it. I was going into it with an open mind (and nose) and man, if you weren’t right on the money.
During tasting, I sensed a delayed and muted front end with almost no mid-palate whatsoever and not much of a finish, either. Really nothing there to hold onto at all. I could barely finish the amount I poured in the glass!

I’ll be treading a little more carefully from now on, especially considering the ridiculous markup in Brooklyn (and Manhattan).
Thanks again, Gary.

Oh easy, my favorite spanish wine of all time is the ’04 numanthia. I’ve never found such a pure, focused and structured wine (especially at $45). My next, probably the artadi sellecion especial. Spain is about 70% of what I drink right now, the qpr is unmatched,even of the high end. The campo viejo reserva rioja is an excellent entry level especially for the new world drinkers looking to expand their horizons (’02). People please don’t be discouraged by those crappy entry level wines, there are some stellar offerings from rioja in the 10-15 range.

oh, and the riscal wasn’t the first spanish I had, it was the 01 termes (freaking awesome). Those two wines are terrible but the reservas of the caceras can be good, (00, 04)

i had the marques de riscal, and it was gross, and i love rioja so i totally agree with garys comments. very madicinaly and laytexy from what i remember. NOT GOOD, and as i said i love rioja…

qotd next one i plan to try is the Tinto Pesquera Ribera del Duero ’05

Gary, when do you plan on doin a vin jaune episode?

Catching up on this eoisode as I’m needing a Rioja fix. Interesting that you said 02 is the only vintage to avoid – and then have the 02 Marques de Riscal sitting right there on the table. As expected, it was horrible, but why go down that road if you already know it’s an awful vintage.

Anyway GV, four shows with rioja in them in 2008 and here we are in 2009 and not a one. Aren’t those 2004’s on the market? Hint, hint.

The 1998 MdR I’m drinking right now is very nice.

She's cute….not tried any of these, love Spainish wines. QOTD-just dranl a Vega Escal, maybe El Nindo was the best. http://www.winelx.com