The new season of wine tasting at the Moraira U3A brought together new wines, new vintages and old friends as the weather started to cool after the intense heat of summer.
It also brought the delightful Marta and her colleague Pedro, on a 350 km round trip, to deliver the wine from Bodegas Bleda in Jumilla .
Hopefully, the five wines on offer, enjoyed by the 56 tasters gathered at the Hill Top Bar, made the trek last Thursday worthwhile.
Bodega Bleda have been a long term supporter of the wine group, making the trip twice a year and this time Marta brought a new range of wines – Licinciao Gossip – as well as the new award winning vintages of two firm favourites.
The Licinciao Blanco was made from 100% Viura grapes, perhaps better known to some as Macabeo. Marta described the wine as fresh, fruity, pale yellow, with green hues. Covering all bases, she said it was good at the start of a meal – or without food!
At just 10.5% volume, tasters’ host Brian commented, “You could drink it all day!”
The Rosé , slightly stronger at 11%, was a robust pink colour made from the Granacha tinto grape. Marta insisted it was not just something between white and red but had “Very much its own personality,” clean, bright and with an aftertaste of berries. It too was good with or without food she said.
Rounding off the range was the red, packing a 14.5% punch and a 50/50 blend of Monastrell and Syrah grapes. Marta said it was an interesting combination of wines harvested at different times and eventually blended together. A deep colour , it was a smooth wine with no rough edges.
Next up was the Pino Doncel Black, a firm favourite in past years and the 2025 vintage didn’t disappoint. A blend of 15% Monastrell, 30% Syrah and 55% Petit Verdot, aged in oak for 5 months, it is a very deep red. It has an aroma of intense berries and a mature , elegant taste with soft spicy hints.
All the wines sold well but on the night the Doncel Black was the out and out favourite.
Rounding off the evening was the 2023 Castillo De Jumilla Crianza, which recently won a gold medal at the prestigious Berlin wine awards. A 14.5% blend of Monastrell and Tempranillo aged for 12 months in oak, it is a deep cherry red, full bodied wine with intense flavour and an aroma of vanilla, with balsamic notes.
Despite Marta’s suggestion that it was a wine to be drunk slowly, I was not put off, and heartily agreed with the fifth of her five rules of wine drinking, ” You don’t have to be a wine expert to enjoy wine.” I forget what rules 1 to 4 were but it was the end of a very enjoyable evening.
Our thanks, as ever, go to Pat and Brian Clarke for their dedication to running the wine group and to the Hill Top for supplying platters of cheese, meats and crusty bread.
Our thanks go to Ian Graham for the very informative write up of the evening and to Dina Jones for the lovely photos. Right click on any image to open in a new tab and view the entire image.