Wines of Madrid surprise Irish trade
The city of Madrid isn’t the first place you think of when selecting a Spanish wine but, in fact, a recent tasting in Dublin resulted in a lot of traders and journalists being very pleasantly surprised.
Nine wineries from the Madrid hinterland were present, all of whom were hoping to find agents in Ireland. At the moment none are available here so a listing of tasting notes would be superfluous. Suffice to mention that there were some delicious syrahs on offer, along with French style cabernet blends and, of course, some decent tempranillos.
According to one producer, there is quite a bit of vintage variation in this Vinos de Madrid DO, but unlike many wine regions, it’s not unseasonal rain that tends to be the problem, but excessive heat. Thus, ripeness has to be carefully monitored and picking carried out immediately once desired levels have been reached.
Amongst the various bodegas, my favourites were Bodgeas Tagonius, for its fine fruit and clever use of both French and American oak, and Vinos Jeromin for some nifty blending of syrah and tempranillo, along with some well priced tempranillos which I think would be very easy to sell. Solera Bodegas was one of several wineries to show the aromatic qualities of the local white malvar grape, while Bodegas Nueva Valverde had a lovely blend of tempranillo with French varieties at a very decent price, along with a premium Bordeaux blend pepped up with a touch of syrah.
For retailers in search of some Spaniards with a difference, all nine wineries are worth a look. For more information, contact Jean Smullen at jean@jeansmullen.com.
