Lavinia: where to start?

[endless autumn]

I plan to pop into Lavinia in Barcelona to have a nose around.

I have very limited knowledge of Spanish wine: I am familiar with the big names, famous regions and reams of sherries but know little about less famous regions/ varieties/ producers.

The Lavinia website doesn't seem comprehensive or particularly well put-together: if anyone has any recommendations, they'd be hugely appreciated.

[Brad Ballinger]

My first response was going to be to put yourself in their hands, and be open to being surprised by wines you've never heard of before. Then I click on the link to the web site and see the first wine they are promoting is the Doce Tanidos Rosado. It's a pleasant enough rosado wine, and has some nice spice. But unless it's being sold at a deep discount, I'm surprised to find it featured front and center.

Clicking on the "vinos" link, here's what I like that I see.

Alphonse Mellot Sancerre La Moussiere. Mellot is one of Sancerre's best producers IMO.

Delamotte Rose Champagne. Don't see this around much.

Then I search for Spanish Reds. You can only look through 100, and number 100 is only as far as C in the alphabet. So I go back to my first thought. Give them a budget, tell them what Spanish wines (and other styles of wines) you've liked, and trust them.

One smaller label to look for that I reallylike is Finca Valpiedra Rioja. Also look for Placet Rioja Blanco from Palacios. And if they have Bodegas Toro Albala P.X. from 1972, buy a bunch.

[pedro]

Tough question that would require a better answer than the present.

Lavinia has a very good selection of wines from all over Spain, and their staff is well trained and don't get a commission on the sales, so they are able to provide you a reasonable independent advice.

There goes some recommendations which shouldn't be hard to get in Lavinia:

Red wines:

- Martinet Bru: The basic wine from Priorat's producer of Clos Martinet

- Casa Castillo Pie Franco: A monastrell wine from Jumilla, a region which is recovering from its a granel production to offer very interesting wines

- Any of Enrique Mendoza's wines, also from the southeast of the country.

- Finca Sandoval, from the newest D.O. in the country, Manchuela. One of the best Syrah's in the country, if not the best, made by vserna, a fellow eGulleter.

- From El Bierzo region, get a Dominio de Tares Cepas Viejas or a Bembibre

- From the Toro region, San Román will hardly disappoint you, though some argue that it's more an author's wine (from Mariano García, one of the best winemakers in the country). Quinta Quietud or Finca Sobreño are other good options from the same region.

Castilla La Mancha, the largest D.O. in the world, is going through a transformation process which is giving very good results: from the inexpensive Finca La Estacada to more expensive wines from Marqués de Griñón.

White wines

I'm not a big fan myself of Spanish white wines: if I believe that we have first class red wines to compete with the best in the world, white wines is an area where I think we yet have a lot of ground to cover. Nonetheless, Albariños from Galizia are excellent, as are some of the historic wines from López Heredia.

Other than that I would urge you to try some Sherries: if you're already familiar with Fino and Manzanilla, go and try Olorosos, Amontillados, Palos Cortados, PX, ... There's a whole world there at bargain prices waiting to be discovered!

As you've seen, I've skipped Rioja and Ribera del Duero, asuming they would fall in the category of "famous regions". Let me know if you'd like some recommendation of wines from those regions.

[endless autumn]

Thanks for the recommendations - I think I will have to buy a couple of bottles of Finca Sandoval. I wonder if what they say about dogs and their owners holds true for wines: I imagine Finca Sandoval to be austere, complex, correct...

I'm a huge fan of sherries and try to buy any bottle which I haven't seen before (though this would doubtless be a dangerous policy at Lavinia). Palo Cortado is my favourite style: I had nice little bottle of Gutierrez Colosia last night.

[Rogelio]

Even if you a great fan of sherrys, it will probably be hard for you to find fresh bottles, it is even in Spain, but Lavinia have now Manzanilla en Rama Barbadillo (Saca de Verano, summer's cask), meaninig en rama non stabilized, ie you have to drink it in the same season that you buy it and belive me because it is something else. Also worth buying Fino La janda, a new wine by Alvaro Domeq.

[docsconz]

Even if you a great fan of sherrys, it will probably be hard for you to find fresh bottles, it is even in Spain, but Lavinia have now Manzanilla en Rama Barbadillo (Saca de Verano, summer's cask), meaninig en rama non stabilized, ie you have to drink it in the same season that you buy it and belive me because it is something else. Also worth buying Fino La janda, a new wine by Alvaro Domeq.

What would be the latest that it would be reasonable to buy and drink this wine? Roughly how expensive is it?

[Rogelio]

Manzanilla en Rama Barbadillo is avery delicate product issued four times a year (every season) the current one is the summer cask (saca de verano) and you should drink it during the summer, otherwise it gets oxidixed (remontada). It is quite cheap about 5€ the half bottle, but worth every cent.

The main problem apart from the storage is the traveling, they say that it taste different out of Sanlucar (and sometimes they're right) but without a hard trip it can last 2-3 months in your cellar.

Edited August 13, 2004 by Rogelio (log)