THURSDAY NIGHT TASTING 6-8PM: SPANISH WINES FROM RAÚL PÉREZ
ALL RAÚL PÉREZ AT THE LIONS CLUB THIS WEEK
It looks like an Age of Winemakers. If there was an Age of Houses, an Age of Terroir, an Age of Chaos perhaps…. Today the spotlight seems to shine brighter with each passing vintage on the previously unheralded artisans behind the wines. And a fair number of the more interesting among them sport rather dramatic facial hair, but no one has a beard as kingly as Raúl Pérez, the genius behind so many contemporary Spanish treasures. The wines of course, are equally arresting – we had the rare opportunity recently to taste more of them than anyone ever has before. There were long verticals of his most well-known bottlings and entire roomful of “rarities and B-sides”. We’ll never be the same and we now strongly suggest that you join us at The Lions Club (aka our bar in the back of the shop) to taste through some of of our favorites right away! Your guide is our old friend Steven “Smartypants” Van Haren of Skurnik Wines, who recently told me he sometimes feels like the New York market has entered the mirror stage. All these wines are organic. Pérez himself won’t call them natural but a lot of other people would.
As always, WINE, BREAD, CHEESE and VINYL…
Bodegas y Viñedos Raúl Pérez, Ultreia Saint Jacques Bierzo 2017:
One of our favorite Pérez wines is also one of the most affordable! The wines in the Ultreia series follow the Burgundy model: a pair of entry-level “village” wines from multiple sites and then a collection of single-vineyard expressions. And the Saint Jacques is one of these “village” wines. The majority of these vineyards are located in the village of Valtuille de Abajo, where the Pérez family has lived and worked for generations. We could drink this easy-going, deep red fruited Mencia every day. $23
Atalier by Raúl Pérez, Rías Baixas A Cruz Das Ánimas 2017:
Raúl says that when he decided to work in Ríax Baixas he first took advice from his old friend, a master there, and his frequent collaborator Rodri Méndez of the Forjas del Salnés estate in the Val do Salnés subzone. (You may have noticed we’ve been carrying Rodri’s Forjas del Salnés Leirana Albariño recently.) The Atalier is an exciting new Rías Baixas Albariño project between the two of them. This wine balances a piercing, daylight-clear acidity with a surprising minerality – the point of a knife. Turns on a dime. $29
Bodegas y Viñedos Raúl Pérez, Vino de la Tierra de León Blanco Rara Avis 2013:
There’s not another wine even close to being like this. It’s Albarin – not Albariño – and it’s raised under flor but not in Jerez of course. Confusing – yes. But flor grows in more places than we imagine – it’s just usually killed off by the winemaker. In this case, Perez found an old bodega – above ground, but stone – where wine has been being made in a fairly hands-off manner for so long that, forgive me, The Flor is Strong in This One. But it’s not Sherry, it’s not Palomino, it’s not fortified, and the yellow and white fruit is beautifully preserved, almost crystalline. Check it! $60
Bodegas y Viñedos Raúl Pérez, Rías Baixas Albariño 'Sketch', 2016:
The final wine in this collection is Sketch Albariño, undoubtedly Raúl’s most famous bottling. Contrary to popular belief and, indeed, some reports in major media outlets, this wine is not aged underwater, although Lily has distinct and fond memories of Raúl scuba diving off a boat for a couple cold bottles for lunch several years ago.. perhaps a private personal stash? It is, however, one of the finest white wines produced in Spain, and demand for it always outpaces supply... Albariño from Rías Baixas can remind a lot of us of what historically, has been the world’s greatest white wine. Pérez is no stranger to these waters (he knew exactly where those bottles were), and while it’s hard to know for sure what these “sketches” are of, for us they’re a reflection-in-a-glass-salty of Puligny-Montrachet. Arriving today!
