Don’t worry it’s neither Mugabee nor Bush to whom I’m referring!
The Costa Blanca Wine Society has been in existence for long time now. It’s founder member and first President, Anton Massel, is an infrequent visitor since he moved back to Germany but he needn’t worry about his ‘baby’. Since his departure, and indeed during his time here when he was subsequently an officer and then just a member the Society has been left in very capable hands in terms of the following on committee members and of course the Presidents.
Unusually the outgoing President of 2005 was the same person as was in a similar position in 2004! Rod Anderton had been asked to serve for two consecutive years and typically altruistically he had accepted. December 2005 was his limit though and the new man in the chair is occasional wine writer and constant connoisseur Tim Ladd, himself a past President.
I’ve been a member for several years now and there is no doubt that those who give their time voluntarily for the good of the Society do a sterling job and we, the rank and file, owe them a debt of gratitude. Being top dog means that bit more time and effort and that’s why I write in praise of Presidents!
The Costa Blanca Wine Society under the guidance of new President, Tim Ladd, met for the first time in 2006 for a tasting and dinner held at Pinosol on the back road between Benitachell and Javea. After the formalities of a well-attended AGM we set about the regular business of the Society – tasting wines and appreciating them as well as enjoying dinner!
The Society rings the changes from time to time – sometimes we taste a series of wines and then have dinner, with wine of course! And occasionally we do what we did at the January meeting, we taste wines which have been especially selected to accompany the food. There is always a guest speaker, (a role I fulfil some times), and usually a theme as well.
What better guest could there be than the man who actually makes the wine? Peter Arnold, whose excellent boutique bodega in Murla in the Jalon Valley, was asked to bring a selection of his wines, to introduce them and to pair them with the menu of the evening. I’m sure that, although quite demanding a task, (I know as I’ve done it myself!), it was a pleasant challenge for him. A chance to showcase his wines and also to match them with food, which many think is the raison d’etre of wine!
I’ve met Peter several times now and like all the winemakers I’ve had the pleasure of meeting he too is imbued with that all pervading passion for the glorious liquid we know as wine! Indeed I expect to be visiting him at his bucolic bodega soon to taste the full range of his wines and to write abut them for ‘Cork Talk’ – watch this space!
Whilst Peter has learned his trade at university in Germany as well as in the vineyards and bodegas of that country as well as South Africa he also makes wine with his own footprint, if you’ll forgive the pun! Also in typically slightly rebellious fashion he pooh poohed the traditional approach to wine tasting, i.e. white through to red, dry to sweet and only dessert wines with postres, starting with the tapas entradas with a pair of rosados!
Actually this was a typically magnanimous gesture as he had brought along with him a few wines from one of his competitors in the valley, Bodegas Parcent is another small producer in the area giving a lie to the generally felt view that Jalon wines are just high octane headache fuel. Sure you can find stuff like that, but in fact the Jalon is now starting to gain a reputation for quite the opposite: delicate, well crafted whites and rosados as well as gloriously fruity, rich and flavoursome reds – Peter Arnold Wines and Bodegas Parcent are examples of the new thinking.
Although not the point I nevertheless set myself a little task to see if I could identify Peter’s wines as opposed to the Parcent ones, as all bottles were of course tasted blind, i.e. with their names concealed by foil. The first rosado was a pale colour, had good fruit with mature strawberries on the nose and a good fruit presence on the palate too. It had a very good finish long and fruity and dry too.
The second was a much paler colour, almost the classic colour of onion skins, (how Anton would have loved that!), which for some on my table meant probably less flavour and nose. However on the nose there was a pleasant mixture of raspberry fruit and also a touch of bubble gum! Remember those big, round, pink bubble gums of your youth? In the mouth on the first hit the fruit was delicate and elegant with enough presence for you to enjoy but not a cloying sweetness like some rosados which can be all body and bluster!
I guessed correctly – the latter was Peter Arnold’s Overture Rosado 2005, made from Gíro, (local name for Garnacha) and Merlot. I gave it 79 points and the Bodegas Parcent Rosat 2005, 76. A good start.
It was in fact the Jalon Valley that produced the first ever dry Moscatel, courtesy of Bodegas Gutierra de la Vega, and despite the ridicule that they suffered from other winemakers in the area, the style was well accepted by the consumers and is enduring to this day. Both Peter and Parcent make such a wine. The style is really an off dry white, which is a lovely aperitif as well as being a wine to have with Asian cuisine, particularly from the South East.
When I tasted wine number three I was sure that it would turn out to be Peter’s. His Moscatel grapes this year have been problematical which has meant he has had to source some from other growers. However with careful selection choosing only those grapes which pass muster he has managed to craft a wine which is really gorgeous and which you might say defines the style! It was my second highest scorer of the night with a cool 80 points!
Sonantina Moscatel 2005 is just what the doctor ordered for that lovely off dry aperitif and if this is a style that appeals to you too then I’d highly recommend you give Peter a call and buy some over the garden gate, which is actually the way he sells most of his wine! (Peter Arnold Wines: 661 608 974 or 660 871 169)
Gra D’Or Moscatel 2005 from Bodegas Parcent is also a good wine, a little drier than Peter’s with a touch of pear drops on the nose. This is also a wine which could be enjoyed as an aperitif but it didn’t have quite the same depth and finish as the above.
Peter had decided to use shock tactics on the normally conservative minded members of the CBWS just to see the reaction. And whilst there weren’t exactly gasps at the audacity of drinking dry red with dessert there were nevertheless rumblings of surprise at least. But we are nothing if not adventurous so manfully, (and womanfully), we did as we were told.
I’m a great believer in trying things new and am eternally grateful to the chap who suggested that I try white wine with cheese instead of red many years ago – try it, particularly an oaky Chardonnay with mature white cheeses. Also a recent guest on ‘Cork Talk’ – Aldo, has successfully introduced me to eating Parmesan with honey. Variety is the spice of life!
However, whilst some did enjoy the match I had to say the red wines were not shown at their best in this way. Partly this was because the chocolate dessert promised wasn’t really very chocolatey, and red wines are sometimes described as having a chocolate nose and taste.
Also it seems, having received the breakdown of scores from all those who attended, that I was out of step with the consensus about the better of the two reds. Rhapsody Cab/Merlot 2004 was my best wine of the night. It has a glorious fresh deep red colour with bags of ripe fruit on the nose and the palate. It is drinking very well right now but I think in six months to a year this will be a rally good Jalon Valley red.
The same wine, but from the 2002 vintage was the last wine tried and one which came in with a bit of a fanfare. Perhaps it was the dessert but for me this wine was starting to lose its fruit a bit resulting in a slight inbalance where the tannin was a bit harsh making the wine seem a touch too dry.
Both of these wines are from Peter’s bodega, but the last one is now sold out. I’ll be going to visit Peter soon and I hope it’s soon enough as his wines do sell out quickly. Why don’t you take a drive up there and taste a couple while you still can. His prices by the way are excellent for the consumer, ranging from 3.85€ to 6.50€!