With a little over six weeks to Christmas, Moraira Teulada U3A wine tasters were focused on stocking up, when they met for the final tasting of the year on Tuesday.
Santa, in the form of Domingo from Bodegas Megia & Hijos in Valdepenas, loaded up his sleigh with a good stock of his latest award winning wines.
His ebullient little helper Franco – still a slimmed down version of his once rotund self – was keen to tell the 50+ tasters that four of the six new season wines on offer, had won top awards at the most recent international wine challenge in Brussels where they were up against thousands of wines from over 50 countries.
The white Muscat and Rose walked away with golds while the two Tempranillo reds on offer , the Crianza and Reserva, each won silver.
Domingo was well pleased with the take up of over 60 cases, and several Magnums, bought on the night – making his 800 km day trip more than worth it.
The first wine of the night was the Airen, a pale golden colour, very fresh and fruity and which, we were told, paired well with shellfish, rice dishes and blue cheese. Airen may not be the most well known grape variety but in fact is the most planted white in the whole of Spain.
Next up was the Gold winning Muscat of which Franco said, “This is the nuts with mince pies and Christmas cake. A gorgeous, elegant, fresh but subtle young wine .”
The Rose, 100% Tempranillo with a beautiful deep pink colour and fruity flavour , we were assured, would provide “Our five a day fruits” in a bottle.
Domingo said achieving the desired colour was complicated, and done by checking the wine every half hour for between seven and ten hours before removing the red skins from the wine vat. He was dismissive of ultra pale French rose which he branded as being like “Water!”
The reds, all a hearty 14.5% strength, started with the Syrah a powerful ruby red colour, with an aroma of red fruits and a hint of spice, which went down a treat served chilled. It was not a tapas wine but a big chunky offering to pair with the likes of steak, leg of lamb or goulash, we were told.
The evening was rounded off by what Franco termed “The big boys,” the Crianza and Reserva. The first had spent over a year maturing in oak barrels and another in the bottle while the Reserva had spent two years in the barrel and 12-18 months in the bottle. Both were proper elegant dinner wines, said Franco, the latter being “ultra, ultra smooth “.
He announced that next year he was giving up organising weekend trips to the Valdepenas bodega but would still be available for the tastings for as long as wanted.
Our thanks go to the Hill Top Bar for providing the venue and platters of food for the tasting and as ever to Pat and Brian Clarke for organising the tastings.
The final event for 2026 will be the Wine Group Christmas Lunch at the Olive Tree restaurant on Thursday, 3rd December. Details of this event were sent to all group members on 18th October.
