Our first tasting of the season will be held on Tuesday, 14 September at 6:30pm, and we will be exploring exciting trends in Spanish wine. We will taste wines from Rías Baixas and Bierzo, as well as wines from more established regions, with a Rioja and a Navarra as examples of how these regions are reinventing themselves.

Barbara Drew MW will be the presenter for the tasting, making her SWS debut. Barbara started her wine career in 2011 at Berry Bros. & Rudd, working in the events department, and Barbara became an MW in 2018. Barbara coordinates and hosts a wide range of events for Berry Bros, spanning introductory wine courses to in-depth tastings and masterclasses, dinners, lunches, one-day schools and WSET courses. Barbara is an experienced presenter and we are very fortunate to have her present to the Society.

The wines we will taste are the following:

2020 Berry Bros & Rudd Albariño by Bodegas Sucesores de Benito Santos, Rías Baixas, Spain

Rías Baixas offers wines made from one of the “hottest” grapes on the Spanish wine scene today, Albariño. The Rías Baixas region has been transformed during the past several decades from a source of primarily Palomino grapes for sherry production in the 1980s to a dynamic region producing wines from indigenous grapes, of which the most notable is Albariño. The surge in popularity for Albariño is due in part to its unique ability to express the terroir of Rías Baixas, which is located on the rugged Atlantic coast of Galicia in Northern Spain. There are few regions that are so closely associated with one particular grape variety as Rías Baixas is with Albariño.

This wine represents a collaboration between Berry Bros & Rudd and Sucesores de Benito Santos. The Sucesores de Benito Santos winery is located a mere 500 metres from the Atlantic and this is expressed in its sea salt core, which anchors the flavours of peach, green apple and white flowers.

2014 Senorio de Amézola, Reserva, Bodegas Amézola de la Mora, Rioja, Spain

This wine is a classic expression of Rioja, with intense flavours of black cherry, damson and raspberry, complemented by exceptionally well-integrated notes of toasty vanilla and baking spices. The wine spent 22 months in both French and American oak.

Amézola de la Mora is a small family-owned estate in Rioja Alavesa run by sisters Cristina and María Amézola. When they took on the winery after their father’s death in 1999, they were the youngest wine-producers in the Rioja region. The wine we are tasting demonstrates their success in combining tradition and innovation.

2015 El Terroir, Domaines Lupier, Navarra, Spain

This wine is 100% Garnacha, and is an example of the transition of the Navarra region over the past several decades. Navarra gained its reputation in the 1980s and 1990s primarily from wines made from international varieties, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Chardonnay. In recent years, there has been a move among winemakers in the region towards tradition and authenticity, which has led to a refocus on the Garnacha grape, which was the predominant variety in Navarra in the 1950s. Due to its thin skin, Garnacha tends to be lighter in colour, and has juicy and soft tannins. Winemakers are increasingly focused on less-extracted wines aged in larger vessels to have as little impact as possible on the varietal profile.

Enrique Basarte and Elisa Ucar, the team behind Domaines Lupier, have nurtured their fascination for old vine Garnacha by acquiring 27 parcels in the hills of Navarra, all based around the village of San Martín de Unx. These vineyards are located at altitudes ranging from 400 to 700 metres above the sea, and their vines date back to 1903. The wine we are tasting is produced from old vines with low yields and is aged for 14 months in barrels of differing size.

2018 Villa de Corullon, Descendientes de J Palacios, Bierzo, Spain

Bierzo is another “up and coming” Spanish region located in the northwestern corner of Castilla y León. This wine is made from the Mencía grape, which has recently been recognised as producing wines with red fruit and floral flavours which some have likened to Pinot Noir.

The producer of this wine, Alvaro Palacios, will be a name familiar to many given his role in revolutionising the Spanish wine industry by making rich, complex wines in Priorat. His first wine from Priorat, the 1995 L’Ermita, gained recognition as one of the world's leading wines. His success in Priorat inspired him to search for new opportunities, including in the Bierzo region. While Bierzo is a relatively new appellation in Spain (it has been a Denominación de Origen since 1989), it has a wealth of old vines, planted on steep hillsides, and in this respect it bears a resemblance to Priorat.

Alvaro Palacios formed Descendientes de J. Palacios in 1998 with his nephew, Ricardo Perez. They named the estate in honour of Alvaro’s father who passed away in 2000.

Logistics

The tasting will be held by way of a Zoom meeting and will be free to attend. We expect the tasting to run for approximately one hour. We hope that you will pass along the details to friends and colleagues. To join, please click on https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Demy5TCSSPezZL81RlTt4Q a few minutes before the tasting is due to start.

Or join by phone:

   The United Kingdom: +44 203 481 5237 or +44 203 481 5240 or +44 203 901 7895

    Webinar ID: 884 8619 4525

    International numbers available: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kcNzvYw1Ss

The wines to be presented in the tasting:

2020 Berry Bros & Rudd Albariño by Bodegas Sucesores de Benito Santos, Rías Baixas, Spain - £13.95

2014 Senorio de Amézola, Reserva, Bodegas Amezola de la Mora, Rioja, Spain - £22.50

2015 El Terroir, Domaines Lupier, Navarra, Spain - £22.95

2018 Villa de Corullon, Descendientes de J Palacios, Bierzo, Spain - £41

 are available for purchase from Berry Bros & Rudd for an aggregate price of £100.40, which includes duty and VAT, but excludes delivery. There is no dedicated link for the tasting, so you should select the wines listed above from the Berry Bros & Rudd website at www.bbr.com.  Delivery is not included and will be £10, unless you make purchases on the Berry Bros & Rudd website in excess of £200, in which case delivery will be free. In order to ensure delivery in advance of the tasting, the wines must be purchased from Berry Bros & Rudd no later than 2 pm on 9 September.

Members and guests who attend the tasting do not have to purchase the wines in order to participate and could opt to taste similar wines during the tasting.

You are encouraged to use the ‘chat’ and Q&A’ functions of Zoom to raise questions for the speaker as you enjoy the wines.

We are very much looking forward to members and guests joining our first virtual tasting of the new season!