Record Breakers!
They’re a boozy lot of record breakers in the U3A’s Moraira-Teulada wine tasting group.
On Tuesday 21st April they set two records – the biggest ever spend on wine at a single tasting and, for the first time, every taster bought wine to take home. In fact, for two wines, demand outstripped supply and sold out, leaving a few members at the back of the queue disappointed. Arrangements have been made to get fresh supplies delivered.
The dynamic duo, Domingo and Franco, presented six new season Corcovo wines, from Bodegas Megia & Hijos in Valdepeñas.
Domingo and assistant Antonio packed as much wine into their van as legally possible for the long drive, but such was their reception that it wasn’t quite enough.
They were joined at the Hill Top in Moraira by Franco, returned to full health after a knee replacement and a stay in hospital with pneumonia, and his delightful new ‘significant other’ Yessica. It was good to see him back.
The whites on offer, Airén, Verdejo, Muscat, together with the Rosé and Tempranillo Joven were all from last autumn’s harvest. The Crianza was the newly released 2022 vintage.
The tasting opener, the Airén, was from a “fantastic harvest,” said Domingo. Pale yellow in colour, with hints of green apples and an intense and fruity aroma. It went down a treat and completely sold out.
The 2nd wine was the Verdejo, pale lemon in colour, with fine aromas, very, very fruity with hints of tropical fruits.
The Muscat, grapes harvested by moonlight and in the Bodega before dawn to preserve their freshness, has continued its run of winning awards. This time achieving Gold and judged to be the best 2026 white produced in Castile-La Mancha.
An elegant, fresh, delicate and subtle young white, it’s a wine Domingo says will improve in the bottle over one or two years – if anyone can refrain from downing it during the upcoming summer!
The Rosé has already picked up 2026 Gold at the prestigious Brussel’s awards. 100% Tempranillo, it has an attractive lively pink colour with violet tones as opposed to its paler French competition . An intense aroma of red fruits, strawberry and raspberry, make it a must for summer. Franco revealed that in Spain, if a rosé doesn’t say on the bottle which grape it’s made from, it can’t be sold as rosé.
The U3A drinkers had an exclusive tasting of the Tinto Joven, only bottled in March, it was not due to hit the market for another 10 days. The cherry red , fruity young wine has aromas of ripe raspberries and currants. “Like fermented fruit juice,” said Franco. There was a consensus on our table that it was even better and smoother than last year.
Rounding off the evening was the 2022 Tempranillo Crianza which spent 12 months in American oak barrels and 30 months maturing in the bottle. Ruby red in colour with aromas of vanilla, spices and coffee from its aging, it’s a seriously elegant wine which has just won Gold in Brussels for the second year running. It too sold out.
Our thanks go to the Hill Top for providing platters of cheese, meats and crusty bread to complement the wines and, as ever, to Pat & Brian Clarke for organising the tastings.
Our thanks go to Ian Graham for the excellent review of the evening and to Dina and Antonio for the photos below. Right click on any image to open in a new tab and view the entire image.
The Wine Group has two more events before the summer break – a day trip to Bodegas Castaño in Yecla on 4th June and a Lunch at the Olive Tree Restaurant on 2nd July.
