TN: Spain (mostly Rioja) at Txikito

A nice group gathered at Txikito in Chelsea for some (mostly) Spanish wine.

A little private room, and the chef put together a nice menu
Pintxos with the whites:
cod croquettes
blistered peppers (some quite hot)
Iberico dry sliced sausage with crispy confit artichokes
Eggplant

2009 Savart “La Dame de Couer” Extra Brut
Crisp, appley, some woody notes, good. B/B+

Nanclares Albarino
Neglected to get vintage on this, but liked, great with cod, lemon and saline notes on a nicely structured middleweight. B+

1999 Lopez de Heredia Tondonia Blanco Rioja Reserva
Usual oxidative style, but not over the top, Crisp acids, a waxy almost-Chenin note, citrus zest. B

2010 Fevre Le Clos Chablis Grand Cru
Diam closure, young,full, citrus and wet stones, the closure makes me hope one could age this, but pretty damn tasty now. A-/B+

With reds we had
Piquillo peppers stuffed with vegetable pisto & a cod roe sauce
Great dish of trumpet mushrooms cut to resemble baby eels
Poached octopus
Then whole turbot , followed by suckling pig, fries, and an excellent frisee salad

1976 Lopez de Heredia Bosconia Rioja Gran Reserva
Full, high toned, warm red fruits, herby, smoky. A-

1981 Muga Prado Enea Rioja Gran Reserva
(says Reserva on front, GR on back, only one made and it is GR)
A few people thought drying out, but I really enjoyed. Tangy, perfumed, spicy, citrus zest, good length. A-

1982 Murrieta Ygay Rioja Riserva
Full, vanilla, red fruits, but a little clipped on finish. B

1985 Murrieta Ygay Rioja Riserva
Soft, lower acid, vanilla. B

1985 Tondonia Rioja Gran Reserva
Extra tangy, cherry, mulling spices. B+

1985 CVNE Vina Real Rioja Gran Reserva
Black cherry, coffee,smoke. Herby and delicious. A-/A

1996 Pesquera Reserva
Rich, long, coffee, earth. B+

1994 Clos Eramus
I thought this was corked at first, but the chlorine went away, but didn’t love what was left- bretty and volatile with pruney notes. B-/C+.

1986 Vega Sicilia Valbuena
I had 2 pours of this - Diane asked me to check for cork, thought no TCA but a little funky/volatile. But later (90 minutes?) next pour was better, mature but not tired, earthy with black cherry fruit, B+

Alvear Pedro Ximenez Solera 1927
Thick, figs and raisins, Christmas spices. Not really my thing. B-

We did our usual 6 pt (3/2/1) scoring.
1976 Bosconia 17 pts
1985 CVNE Real 10
1981 Prado Enea 9
1986 Valbuena 5
1982 Ygay 4
1985 Tondonia 3
1996 Pesquera 1

Good food, good wine, good people.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

[David M. Bueker]

That looks excellent! I don't own enough Rioja.

[Jenise]

What Dave said.

The '81 Muga PE was my gateway Rioja thanks to a young Joe Perry.

[Jenise]

How's Joe doing these days? Haven't heard from or about him in ages, since about the wedding. Do he and Amy have a ton of kids now?

I don't own enough Rioja.

What I think most people at dinner said!
And yeah, what happened to Joe Perry?

[Robin Garr]

And yeah, what happened to Joe Perry?

Joe's no longer in the wine scene. I'm connected to him on Facebook and enjoy seeing that familiar humor, but he's put his wine days behind him.

Joe's no longer in the wine scene... he's put his wine days behind him.

No longer in the wine scene/wine board world, no longer drinking wine, or both?

People can come and go from this peculiar hobby of internet wine writing that we have. But they can continue to enjoy wine. Imagine that! (And he was such an intense guy when he was around)

[David M. Bueker]

Both

Love old school rioja. This was my first wine love, with Bordeaux coming second.

That said, too bad there's so little good, traditional rioja around anymore. Just saw a note on the 09 Prado Enea which was a bummer-- they said it was all boozy. And the good stuff -- CVNE, Lopez, Murrieta -- has either shot up in price a lot or is now hard to find. I guess this lament is true of many traditionally made wines the world over.