Spanish Feast

Burp. That's how my stomach still feels after last nights feast. The premise was simple - Jimmy and I supply the wine we bought in Spain last year, Joel brings a few Spanish bottles from his collection, Koko and I act as chefs for the night and eight people get stuck in trying the wines out. 12 bottles later the verdict is in - there are 11 good wines and one "wow". And unfortunately there is only an extremely low chance you will get to taste it - you will likely have to travel to the vineyard and beg the owner for a bottle (or two...).
The Bodegas Gutierrez de la Vega, Vina Ulises, Cosecha Grana, 1999 was the first WOW of the year. And it will be a hard one to beat. Gorgeous aromas waft from the carafe, it is full bodied, meaty, plush, tannic, oaky and I wish I could have had more. This is a boutique winery in Alicante (and you'll never see a wine from this appelation in Canada), Jimmy met the owner and had lunch with him, together with some German negotiants on a search spree who wanted to buy his whole inventory! Thankfully Jimmy managed to finagle a few bottles back to Quebec. Now, this wine is an absolute bargain in the $20-30 range in Spain, but this would cost $75-100 here if it was available. More reason to re-visit Spain!!!