On his recent visit to France Santiago was kind enough to bring a 6 pack of Spanish wines for us to try. (He performed the same service for the Baudry clan, I'll be interested in finding out their impressions!) Since we essentially never see Spanish wine here, this is a great chance to broaden horizons.
So, this is labeled R. Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Reserva, Rioja Alta, DOC, 12.5%. 1990. For me a rare white Rioja.
In spite of a bum taster I will do my best to elaborate.
The wine was a beautiful straw color, reminiscent of Vin Jaune but a little lighter.
An intense and layered nose of pine resin, nuts and some apricot.
In the mouth very sappy and long, a clean acidic core with more nuts, lemon, creme fraiche, lots of toast but not tannic, pine, apricots. Guessing it spent a long time in the barrel. Very refreshing and different for us -- my kids in particular found it a new taste, and spent many minutes discussing the bouquet! -- and went very well with a simple pork ragout.
Thanks Santiago! And also, I enjoyed our extended tasting and lunch with Pierre and Marie Luneau-Papin, a fascinating tour not only through the older muscadets but also the 2009 parcels in various stages of fermentation. (Marie hasn't yet emailed me the tasting list, I will have to remind her.)
-E