As usual, events and my tendency toward procrastination have collided to turn past into present. This is a chronicle of my experiences at last September's Santa Fe Wine and Chile Fiesta, the highlight of which was attending a seminar on Vega Sicilia Winery, chaired by North American Sales Manager for Vega Sicilia, Puri Mancebo.
The seminar was held in the gorgeous Las Terrazas ballroom of Santa Fe's venerable La Fonda Hotel. Known as "The Inn at the End of the Trail," La Fonda served as a way-station for travelers who were persistent and lucky enough to have reached the end of the storied Santa Fe Trail. These sojourners would rest their weary bones in the cool comfort of La Fonda's five-foot thick adobe walls while they pondered continuing their journey, usually to points west of Santa Fe.
The ballroom affords an extraordinary close-up view of the Catedral de Santa Fe, which stands directly across the street, as well as stunning vistas of the Sangre de Christo mountains, whose verdant slopes soar into the background. Puri convened the seminar by invoking the status of Vega Sicilia as one of the world's foremost wineries, where low yields, quality and hygene are watchwords. It interested me that the north american sales manager should be named Purificacion, or Puri. Many have commented on the almost obsessive attention to sterility and purity in the maintenance of the Vega facility in the Ribera del Duero D.O.. This may have stemmed in part from a cork taint problem that led to the recall of the 1994 Valbuena blend. Puri did nothing to dispel Vega's reputation for meticulousness.
We tasted six wines in all. The first of these was 2002 Pintia. which is the little sister of the collection, being sourced from and produced in Toro D.O.. Toro is less prestigious and less temperate than Ribera del Duero. Mostly known for rocky soil, and prodigiously hot summers, Toro, the Spanish word for "Bull," is aptly named. Puri somewhat sheepishly offered the adage that the Alvarez family, proprietors of Vega Sicilia, sought in founding Pintia to "tame the beast," that is Toro. Indeed, the overall terroir of Toro is represented as "red clay under schist." The wines of Toro are generally of a rustic style, with abruptly tannic hardness. At Café Pasqual's, we poured a Toro recently that filled a niche for clientele that appreciate boldly tannic (some might say cumbersomely so) wines. By contrast, the Pintia showed (for a Toro) fine tannins, the fruit framed within an elegantly soft structural envelope. The rusticity of the terroir was reflected in the wine, but not excessively. It appeared from my experience that Vega has indeed "tamed the beast."
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The seminar was held in the gorgeous Las Terrazas ballroom of Santa Fe's venerable La Fonda Hotel. Known as "The Inn at the End of the Trail," La Fonda served as a way-station for travelers who were persistent and lucky enough to have reached the end of the storied Santa Fe Trail. These sojourners would rest their weary bones in the cool comfort of La Fonda's five-foot thick adobe walls while they pondered continuing their journey, usually to points west of Santa Fe.
The ballroom affords an extraordinary close-up view of the Catedral de Santa Fe, which stands directly across the street, as well as stunning vistas of the Sangre de Christo mountains, whose verdant slopes soar into the background. Puri convened the seminar by invoking the status of Vega Sicilia as one of the world's foremost wineries, where low yields, quality and hygene are watchwords. It interested me that the north american sales manager should be named Purificacion, or Puri. Many have commented on the almost obsessive attention to sterility and purity in the maintenance of the Vega facility in the Ribera del Duero D.O.. This may have stemmed in part from a cork taint problem that led to the recall of the 1994 Valbuena blend. Puri did nothing to dispel Vega's reputation for meticulousness.
We tasted six wines in all. The first of these was 2002 Pintia. which is the little sister of the collection, being sourced from and produced in Toro D.O.. Toro is less prestigious and less temperate than Ribera del Duero. Mostly known for rocky soil, and prodigiously hot summers, Toro, the Spanish word for "Bull," is aptly named. Puri somewhat sheepishly offered the adage that the Alvarez family, proprietors of Vega Sicilia, sought in founding Pintia to "tame the beast," that is Toro. Indeed, the overall terroir of Toro is represented as "red clay under schist." The wines of Toro are generally of a rustic style, with abruptly tannic hardness. At Café Pasqual's, we poured a Toro recently that filled a niche for clientele that appreciate boldly tannic (some might say cumbersomely so) wines. By contrast, the Pintia showed (for a Toro) fine tannins, the fruit framed within an elegantly soft structural envelope. The rusticity of the terroir was reflected in the wine, but not excessively. It appeared from my experience that Vega has indeed "tamed the beast."
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