Memento Restaurant is not strictly a wine place, but it is one of my favorite restaurants and it does have a nice, well-selected wine list.  Memento Restaurant is owned and run by Karen Bell, an experienced young American chef who was looking for a change of scene when she moved to Spain five years ago.  When she arrived in Madrid she saw that missing from the restaurant scene was a great California/Spanish fusion place.  She opened Memento three years ago and has been building up quite a local following.  Her cuisine is inventive yet satisfying, a great blend of some unusual ingredients with some really comforting classics.  Her sauces and use of herbs is genius…and when you live in Spain long enough you crave sauces and herbs!   If you are a mussel lover make sure you order them…it’s one of her signature dishes and are some of the best I ever eaten.  She offers a high- end menu del día (prix fixe) lunch which is great value at 18.50€.  Her latest creative addition is a great jazz brunch every Sunday between noon and 4PM.  She offers brunch classics served with a creative twist:  Potato latkes with smoked salmon and mixed greens or crab cakes with poached eggs and a spicy hollandaise sauce.  A group of us went yesterday and we loved it!  You can enjoy your brunch with cocktails such as a Bellini or a Bloody Mary or just stick to the brunch classic, a Mimosa.  It’s hard to find a great brunch place in Madrid and Memento really hit the spot…I’m already craving those crab cakes again!  Check out their regular menu and contact info at:  http://www.restaurantememento.com/.

I’ve been complaining a bit about the over-oaked state of many Spanish wines lately and probably the worst region for it is Ribera del Duero.  There’s no denying that some of Spain’s best reds come from the area….reds from a robust variant of Tempranillo called Tinto Fino.  Tinto Fino gives wines of great body and structure that do well in new oak.  Many wine-makers have taken that favorable characteristic and taken it too far.  Many top Riberas have way too much oak despite their great fruit and structure….many of my clients have been disappointed by tastings of top Riberas lately.  Inexpensive Riberas are often tough and hollow…lacking in fruit.  It’s not an inexpensive region by Spanish standards….I have found few Riberas below 20€ that I have really liked.  I tasted an Emilio Moro Crianza the other day…it used to be one of my favorites…it’s good value for Ribera at 17€, but the 2005 I tasted the other day was overly oaky.  One of my favorite wineries in Ribera is Dominio de Atauta…they make a range of blends and single vineyards wines that really stand apart from other Riberas…they really focus on terroir.  They are very intense and focused with lean, elegant fruit and great acidity…most importantly they are very carefully and moderately oaked.  Ferratus, the wine I’m rating below, is a new winery (2003) that has garnered some great ratings from Spanish critics.  I am not so impressed.  Read on for my detailed rating.

I’m on a tapas roll!  Yesterday we tried another newish tapas and wine bar called Estado Puro, located right across the Paseo del Prado from the Prado Museum.  A very stylish locale, it offers the innovative and elaborate tapas of famous Madrid chef Paco Roncero.  He’s the chef at the top rated Casino de Madrid.  The tapas are modern interpretations of classic Spanish dishes and the menu is filled with interesting choices.  The tapas are very creatively presented and arrive on slate board plates.  We tried four different tapas and results were mixed:  the tempura asparagus and the “meat bombs” were delicious while the deconstructed tortilla and the presa iberica with chimichurri were just ok.   There are lots more things on the menu I would like to try though, such as the mini hamburger plate, the fried egg with baby squid and the boletus carpaccio with pine nuts.   The tapas are a bit pricy…they range from 6 to 12€, but are smallish, so this is a place to come and try only a few at a time then move on to one of the more traditional places in nearby Huertas.  The wine list by the glass offers 6 reds, 3 whites and a couple of rosés….a good variation, though none of the wines were spectacular.  In the whites my favorite is a nice Godello called Montenovo, the best red was Artazurri,   a joven red from Navarra.  The wines are all priced at 2.50€ a glass, which is a bit steep for this level of wine….but the pours are really generous.  To sum it up:  Estado Puro is a fashionable new alternative on the tapas trail…the location is amazing and they also have a really nice outdoors terraza seating area with spectacular views.  I’m not completely sold on the food, but I’ll definitely be returning to try some more.  Another plus is that it offers its full menu all day from 11AM to 1AM, a rarity still here in Madrid.  Read on for more details on the food and wines at Estado Puro. 

Vinos de Madrid is an improving but still little known wine appellation within the province of Madrid, the small region surrounding the city of Madrid.  Traditionally it was known for joven or “young” red wines without any oak, wines that were often served in the bars in the capital.  There has been a tremendous effort to improve the wines and the area has become quite trendy here in Madrid.  Unfortunately the best wines have become so popular that they can be quite pricy.  There are three major sub-zones in the area, each with very differing soils and climates:  Arganda to the southeast, San Martín to the west and Navalcarero to the southwest.  The climate is generally very hot continental, similar to La Mancha.  Grape varieties allowed are numerous:  the most common ones are Tempranillo and Garnacha, though Syrah is catching on.  Some of the most well known wineries are Tagonius, Qubel and Regajal…I find their wines very good but quite pricy.  Probably my favorite wine form the area, though it is not an appellation wine but rather a Vino de la Tierra is Montazo, a wonderful wine made by the famous enologist Telmo Rodriguez.   The winery Nueve Valverde is in the zone of St Martin and makes two very interesting reds.  They also represent quite good quality compared to many.

Bierzo is a great wine area that I’ve written about several times.  It is home to the very high quality red grape Mencía as well as the excellent white grape Godello.  Mencía has become quite trendy and it’s harder to find good value these days.  Also I’ve noticed an interesting trend in my wine-tasting groups…Mencía seems to have a love/hate effect on them.  A minority loves it and the majority hates it!  I think this has something to do with the grapes strong personality.  It is often intensely mineral and structured, with a lot of acidity and tannin.  There is also a wonderful, aromatic, floral, red fruit side to the wines, but sometimes that can be a bit lost in the intensity of the structure.  Also Bierzos frequently come in 2 styles than do not make fans.  The first is a joven or “young”  wine with no or very little oak, with exuberant young fruit…at its best this style can showcase the Mencía fruit, but is at its worst it has too much of that candy-like carbonic maceration fruit…aromas of banana and sweets.  The second style is the other extreme….over-oaked, a style that makes people more comfortable, but doesn’t make Mencía stand out.  The ideal is somewhere in between.  Unfortunately for every great Bierzo, there are a handful of indifferent or poor ones….and the trendiness of Mencía is only exacerbating the situation.  Mencía is top flight grape, but it is a difficult grape to get right….it is hard to tame its intensity and preserve its delicate floral aromas.  It is not the easiest grape to drink but when it’s just right it has given me some of my best Spanish wine experiences.  The wine I’m rating today is considered Bierzo’s top joven-style Mencía.

Chacolí or Txakolí is the wine produced in three wine appellations in Spanish Basque Country.  It is a slightly sparkling light wine made in all three colors that is commonly served in Basque bars with tapas and pintxos.  It is very similar in style to Portugal’s Vinho Verde.  White Chacolí is the norm and it is generally served with a special spout attached to the bottle high above the glasses…splashing it vigourously encourages the fizzy carbonic to come out.   It is meant to be a light, fresh and fruity wine that refreshes the palate between all the varied pintxos you might eat….the best wines fit that bill perfectly…the worst are bland and bitingly acidic.   I recently saw in a Spanish TV report that over 80% of the Chacolí served in Basque bars is fake…in other words, not from the wine appellation, but rather a table wine made in the style of Chacolí with inferior grape varieties.   I decided to investigate the last time we were in Basque country and sure enough most of the time I was served a vino de mesa most of the time when I ordered Chacolí.  Generally you don’t get your hands on the bottles as it usually served behind the bar by the glass, but in the picture you can see a bottle of a fake one we were served.  The real rip off is that these wines are served at Chacolí prices, 8-10€ a bottle versus their real price value, which would be well below 5€.   So be wary of what you’re being served while enjoying the tapas in San Sebastian…ask for appellation Chacolí (Denominacion in Spain).  Read on for more information on Chacolí and its counterfeit version.

The Ciudad Real area of La Mancha produces some interesting wines; in particular there are some really interesting Syrahs and Tempranillos.  Many times the wines are really good value though prices are rising.  Typically these wines are easy drinking, glugable reds….high alcohol but with gobs of sweet attractive fruit.  The best can have some complexity and subtlety, with better equilibrium between fruit, alcohol, oak, and acidity.  The worse are out of balance:  too much alcohol, often over-ripe fruit and lacking acidity….or even worse over sharp acidity from enthusiastic acid rectification.   The wines of La Mancha are hot weather wines, big wines that often resemble new world wines from similarly hot regions.  They are big wines, even the most complex and elegant wines, and many of my Spanish wine tasters find them overwhelming.  On the other hand, many of my foreign groups love them!  I tend to drink them chilled with barbecues in the summer….when I first came to Spain I drank them more frequently at home, but I got a bit burned out and lately I’ve used them solely in tasting.  Always a region to re-visit as change and improvement is constant. 

I’m always on the lookout for great wine and tapas places in Madrid.  Unfortunately they are few and far between, though the situation is slowly improving.  One impressive new place is called Kulto al Plato, located near the Argüelles metro in Moncloa.  It’s a great combination of a cool modern décor, delicious modern Basque pintxos and an interesting wine list.  The food is really unique, really showing casing the modern techniques that are coming out of Basque Country and the wine list is short but really diverse and original….a real change from the boring wine lists that are typical here in Madrid.  The prices are good…about 3.50€ for most tapas…modern interpretations in miniature of Spain’s most famous dishes.  Despite the modern feel, I love that the back wall is huge chalk board with the menu and wine list written on it…it gives the place a really warm feel.  The service is very good, very quick and friendly…the food arrives very quickly as well.  This wine bar has a really different vibe than most…it really draws its style from the streets of old town San Sebastian, where its sister establishment, A Fuego Negro, is located.  It’s definitely high on my list for a return visit…there is lot more to try on their creative tapas menu!

Montsant is an interesting region to try for those legions of folks who love Priorat but find the prices a little steep!  Montsant is the region that surrounds Priorat and many parts of it share the similar licorella soils that make Priorat wines so unique.  Montsant is relatively new Denominacion de Origen (wine appellation) as previously it was known as Falset district of the large and variable wine region Tarragona.  Montsant is a very good value alternative to Priorat…the best ones are quite similar.  The problem with Montsant is that it is much more variable in quality than Priorat, especially as there are some sites and soils that are not as good.  Also some Montsant wineries make a more rustic-style wine.  The good news is you can try a lot of Montsants to find the good ones without breaking the bank! 

Today a Decanter.com article caught my eye:  “Sisseck of Pingus owes success to Bordeaux,” which was a preview on an interview with the winemaker in their current issue.   More interesting was the bit at the end of the article that stated that Peter Sisseck is moving away from the very pronounced new oak influence that characterized Pingus from the beginning.  “These days I am more wary of new oak.”  This is music to my ears….could it be we are starting to move away from the excessive new oak that has characterized so many Spanish wines in the past few years?

I’m all about Godello…it is a great value alternative to the many under-performing Albariños that abound in Spain.  It is the other fine white grape from Galicia.  It is grown throughout Galicia and parts of Leon.  It is a semi-aromatic grape, usually offering intense fruit (apricot, melon, lime, pear), floral, and mineral notes…it has an attractive fullness and silkiness in the mouth, with generally moderate acidity by Galician standards. Most of them are unoaked, but there are also some great wines with aging over lees or in oak barrels. The wine below is another great, moderately priced Godello that I’ve been drinking lately.

I’ve been writing about Grenache in its various forms over the past month…for me some of the most exciting wines in Spain have Grenache in the mix.  Whether it is is an intense, mineral Priorat based in a Grenache blend or a soft, sweet fruit, old-vine Grenache from Aragon….the variety is endless!  I wanted to talk today about two more of my favorite Grenache’s that are so interesting because they are about as different as two wines can be.  They both show the great results that the grape variety can give when a lot of care is taken in the vineyard and the winery.  Beautiful wines at great prices!

When I arrived in Spain over 6 years ago, Robert Parker and his team were just starting to pay attention to the wines in a big way.  Since then I have seen awareness of him take off in the wine sector…frequently these days, winery professionals talk about the ratings they’ve received from the Wine Advocate.  I often ask my groups of wine tasters if they’ve heard of Robert Parker, and though many of the foreigners have, very few of the Spanish groups have. The concept of wine ratings still hasn’t really filtered down to the typical Spanish wine consumer…he or she still rely on the recommendations of family, friends, or their local wine merchant.  There are quite a few wine guides and magazines in Spain that rate wines, but ratings are a tool that is just starting to be used as a marketing tool by wineries, distributors and wine merchants.