MD Cru March 2008 Wine Tasting: Spanish Wines!

Good company is the best pairing with any wine. This past Saturday, I enjoyed what is becoming a classic pairing: wine and the MD Cru. MD Cru refers to a small group of wine enthusiasts who organize through the Wine Spectator forums to meet up once a month in the MD/Washington DC area to share wine, food and good stories. Venue ranges from the homes of some of the members to local restaurants. Each month we have a theme with the March 2008 tasting focusing on the wines of Spain. Overall the wines were very good and went great with the food menu (below). Here is the list of wines we tasted with my picks for “Wines of the Night”. A big thank you to PH, CS, and HWT for dealing with the organization and logistics of the event. A few wines received a score with a “+” symbol after it. This represents wines that I may have scored higher had there been sufficient pour volume and time to taste it over a few hours. Without further ado:

Wines of the night:

1. 2004 Alto Moncayo (Great wine, outstanding value even at $35- a must try for those new to Spanish Wines)
2. 2003 Clos Mogador (Still a bit young, but very good- hold 2-3 years or decant 2+ hours)
3. 2001 Cims de Porrera Priorat Classic (a load of ripe fruits, good structure and balance)

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Tasting Report: 8 Spanish Wines!

Hooray for me: I gave blood today (thanks for the support, Miranda!). I actually gave two units of blood, which is great since it helps twice as much. That said, when giving this much blood, they have to pump saline and plasma back into your system so you don’t pass out or get sick from blood loss. The sensation of room temperature saline/plasma going abck into your arm and system was quite interesting and resulted in tingling lips and a plastic taste in my mouth. When it was all said and done, I drank a 32 oz Gatorade, 64 ounces of water, ate a big lunch, then waited 6 hours and figured “why not go drink a bunch of wine?”. So, Kim, Donna (who it was great to finally drink wine with again!) and I attended a tasting tonight at the Chesapeake Wine Company in Canton. The following wines were served with a Spanish Chorizo, Bread and the following cheeses: San Simon (smoked cow’s milk), Roncal (aged Sheeps’s Milk, Pyrennes), Murcia (Drunken goat, with olives).
The tasting notes are below:
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