My good pal Jeff Curry came by Salt yesterday with Fabian Olaiz, the Export Manager of Prado Rey wines from Ribera del Duero, Spain.  He had a satchel full of fun, from zippy whites to rich, deep reds and it was a great opportunity to revisit a couple things I’d tried before and dive into some new stuff.

First, a little bit about Prado Rey:

Prado Rey own the biggest vineyard (1285 acres) of the Ribera del Douro D.O. just north of Madrid.  Using solar power widely in their gravity-flow winery, Prado Rey also use all aspects of their farmland which also has 800 cattle along with sheep, corn, beets, alfalfa, potatoes, sunflowers and more.

Here’s a crazy tour of their facilities:

The Wines:

Prado Rey 2008 Verdejo

From 50-year-old vines and coming in around 20 bucks, there were honeydew and watermelon notes on the nose with a ton of super-bright lime, cranberry and tart lemon candy zippiness on the palate that went on and on and on.  A bit of that slate-y wet rock thing as well.  Dry, juicy, delicious.

Incidentally, Spell-Check is mad at me for using the word zippiness, and would rather I say nippiness, happiness, sappiness or peppiness.  Whatever.

Prado Rey 2009 Verdejo

New vintage, and we’ve gone from synthetic cork to Stelvin closure.

This one’s violently different, much more feminine with lavender and lychee on the nose into delicate mango, passionfruit and pomegranate on the palate.  Again, 20 bucks, but I prefer the intensity of the ‘08 for it’s typicity, if nothing else.

Prado Rey 3 Barricas 2007 Verdejo

Around $35, this one has a hint of French oak to it and comes from 100-year-old bush vines.  Reminiscent of a fresh key lime pie cooling on the window sill of a quaint farmhouse in the country, the grapes were macerated on the skins for-

Fuck everything, THIS STUFF’S AMAZING!!!  NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM!!

Prado Rey ‘Elite’ 2006 Tinta Fina

A great $45 value that has the density, layers and characters like vintage Dickens.  Single estate Tinta Fina, it’s a little mushroomy, wild and fungal on the nose, but the palate - OH, the palate!  That ‘forest floor’ thing is definitely going on here,  with black cherry, cloves, fresh ground pepper, kalamata olives, cocoa, currants and the tiniest speck of fresh basil. Anything from wood-oven pizza to game to steak, or even on its own.  Run, don’t walk.

Prado Rey’s wines are quite widely available in Vancouver, at Everything Wine, Kits Wine Cellar, Liberty and more.

Unfortunately, the 3 Barricas 2007 Verdejo isn’t available yet.  But bug Jeff, he’ll make it happen for you.

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