Basa Rueda Blanco 2014

Pablo Eguzkiza and Telmo Rodriquez

Compañía   de Vinos Telmo Rodriguez In 1994, Pablo Eguzkiza and Telmo Rodríguez, along with a third oenologist, created a Garnacha from old bush vineyards in Navarra. The wine was called Alma (soul). This is how the business started, originally under the name of Compañía de Vinos de La Granja. The name was a declaration of intent: it made it clear that the company would be producing more wines in the future and contained a homage to La Granja, the famous glassworks, a center of outstanding Spanish craftwork that has all but disappeared. Even though the wine was successful, the increase in grape prices during the 1990s and the lack of commitment from the local co-operatives, forced the company to leave the area and focus on other projects. Rueda is the second area Telmo and Pablo went to explore, and it was here that the Basaproject was born. Back then, they exported all of their wines. But with the creation of other wines such as Aran, Molino Real and Lanzaga, the need for a single umbrella brand arose. The company at this stage belonged entirely to Pablo Eguzkiza and Telmo Rodriguez, who decided to call it "Compañía de Vinos Telmo Rodriguez", (the Telmo Rodriguez Wine Company) to take advantage of Telmo's position in the wine world, as well as his pioneering work with Spanish viticulture.From the start, the aim of the company has been to use native Spanish varieties. This philosophy originally differed from the on-going interest in the planting of foreign varieties, pretty much in every Spanish vineyard region. Another noteworthy initiative, again from the earliest days of the business, is the recovery of abandoned or forgotten vineyards.

Basa Rueda Blanco 2014   The 2014 Basa was bottled in December 2014. It's mostly Verdejo with some 8% Viura, fermented in stainless steel and bottled unoaked. The wine is clean, focused, and fruit-driven with some balsamic notes of bay leaf and fennel. The palate is quite light with good acidity, and is clean and sharp. This is a reliable, nicely-priced Rueda, showing that volume, affordability and quality are possible to combine. 89 Points eRobortParker.com #221

Cune Rioja Crianza 2012

Cune WInery Circa 1879

Cune Winery The history of the company begins in the winery located in Haro in the neighborhood of the railway station "barrio de la estacion " which dates back to 1879. Close to the railway tracks which during a time drove into the cellar to easily transport easily the wine in oak barrels and then in bottles.   2013 - Cune Crianza obtained the double Environmental Footprint To measure the actual impact of CO2 and water consumption when producing wine, the winery has calculated the carbon footprint and the water footprint of its Cune Crianza. CVNE is the first winery in Spain to be recognized with a double environmental footprint.

Cune Rioja Crianza 2012   A wine that is extremely popular in Spain is the 2012 Cune Crianza, the usual Tempranillo-based blend with 15% Garnacha Tinta and Mazuelo matured in oak barrels for one year. The nose starts with notes of creamy oak that soon give way to aromas of ripe berries,blackcurrants and plums that are quite spicy and showy (revealing hints from both American and French oak) with a fresh, herbal, raspberry leaf touch. The palate is light to medium-bodied, polished and soft, with unnoticeable tannins and very well-integrated oak. It is easy to drink and to understand by the wide audience. A very good commercial Rioja, it is approachable now, but will also keep. This is bottled in different lots as the market requires, and was about to be bottled when I tasted it. A whopping 4.5 million bottles of this wine are produced.here is so much to like in this distinguished Rosso from La Poderina. 88-90 Points eRobertParker.com #218

Bodegas Borsao Tres Picos Garnacha 2014

Bodegas Borsao Old Vine Garnacha

Bodegas Borsao Founded in 1958 in the town of Borja, which was called Bursao in the fourth-century B.C., Bodegas Borsao demonstrates what can be done with the Garnacha grape. Through a meticulous grape-sorting process in the fields and again when the grapes enter the winery, only the healthiest bunches are chosen. Using the most modern winemaking techniques results in wines with emphasis on the fruit; they are the best examples of the region known as "The Garnacha Land of Spain." The grapes for this wine were harvested from old-vine Garnacha vineyards that cling to rugged terrain on the slopes of the famous Moncayo Mountain with low yields of less than two tons per acre. The mountainside, iron-rich, gravelly vineyards reach an elevation of 2,100 feet. The terrain prevents the use of any kind of machinery; as a result, all of the grapes are hand-harvested.

Tres Picos Garnacha 2014 The outstanding 2014 Tres Picos (Garnacha) is 100% Grenache and comes from some of their oldest Grenache vineyards on the slopes of the Moncayo Mountains. Yields are less than two tons of fruit per acre and this wine was aged in neutral French oak and stainless-steel tanks for ten months prior to bottling. It's a beautiful wine, with plenty of Southern Rhône-like black cherry liqueur, garrigue, pepper, licorice and spice. It is medium to full-bodied, lusty and heady. This is a beauty to drink over the next 2-3 years. eRobertParker.com Rating: 90 Drink: 2016-2019