Opimian Society – Offering C248

Spain, Portugal, and Mâcon

Opimian’s most recent catalog features many favourite producers from the Iberian peninsula as well as the reliable Paul Sapin. Several new suppliers are also introduced with this offering, extending the selections from Spain and Portugal with some attractive price points. Here are my observations (based on my taste preferences) from previous vintages or visits/tastings with the suppliers.

Vinsoselección has been sourcing wines from Spain for Opimian for more than a decade, bringing interesting selections, quality producers, and good value. Some of my favourites are included in this offering, starting with #9047 Finca la Colina Verdejo, 2015 – top-notch Verdejo from DO Rueda.

The Portia winery is a wonder of architecture and the wines aren’t bad either! The #9048 Crianza Selección de Familia 2013 is the only one listed in this offering and would serve as an introduction to this supplier.

Also located in DO Ribera del Duero is the impressive property of Bodegas Valduero with an underground winery and beautiful tasting and dining facilities above ground. My holdings of earlier vintages of the #9053 Crianza 2012 (I have the 2003) and #9054 Una Cepa 2012 (I have the 2005) are simply fantastic drinking – full of flavour and obviously capable of long cellaring, if you can resist the temptation.

 

Spanish Palate is a new supplier for Opimian and I have no experience with their wines – but they seem to specialize in old vines, which I can’t resist. I also have a particular fancy for DO Toro wines – a place that seems more like a desert, or a beach, than a place to make wine – but which boasts ancient vines and great flavour concentration. Their price points seem particularly welcoming, and I will be taking a close look at several Botas de Barro “Old Vine” wines: #9055 Tempranillo 2015, #9056 Garnacha 2015, and #9058 Tinta de Toro 2015. The Loess Inspiration #9060 is hard to pass over as well!

Another new supplier and more attractive price points: Axial Vinos. Of course the old vine #9065 Macabeo 2016 is on my list, and the two un-oaked reds look interesting as well: #9066 Garnacha 2015 and #9070 Cátulo Tinto 2016 blend.

Bodegas Concavins has been with Opimian for perhaps twenty years now, and has always offered good value wines. The #9074 Montblanc 362 Tempranillo/Cabernet 2016 is the latest vintage of a wine we buy every second year or so. As the only bubbly in this offering, the #9071 Brut Cava Reserva should be noted as well.

The offering concludes Spain with four more wines, from Alvisa, also a new supplier. These wines all hit the low end of the price range and look like good value everyday drinking wines.

Moving on to Portugal we have two suppliers well known to Opimians in Churchill Graham and Quinta da Barreira. I am still drinking the 2002 vintage of #9081 Meio Queijo 2013, and loving it, but that’s just me! Tawny port is not to be missed, and a 20 Years Old like #9082 is perhaps your best combination of aging and value.

Most of the wines offered by Quinta da Barreira are new to the Society and to me, although I have had many tasty selections from this supplier over the years. Two wines which caught my eye include #9083 Arinto e Moscatel 2016, and #9087 Quinta Vale de Fornos Touriga Nacional Reserva 2015 (as a 100% Touriga Nacional wine). And if you are looking for a 2013 birth year port to put away, the #9094 Soneto might be your only chance!

Opimian and Paul Sapin go back a very long way, as I believe I have been ordering wines from this supplier from my early days in the Society (in the early 90s). I have never been disappointed in their wines as they are consistently fresh, varietally sound examples of the terroir represented on the label, and at very good value. We buy #9099 Coeur de Lanciers Blanc every year as a “house” wine for easy sipping. Although I have not had any of the “La Collection” wines on this offering, #9105 – #9110, I have had several upper echelon wines like these from Sapin from other regions, and they have been excellent. The 500 ml option also works well if you are looking for a pre-dinner sip of something delicious before opening a full bottle for supper.

The Opimian Society is “Canada’s wine club” and offers some 500 wines to 15,000 members across the country each year. All wines are selected by Master of Wine, Jane Masters, and sourced from suppliers from all the major wine regions of the world. Wines are ordered and delivered to members via the liquor boards or equivalent in each provincial and territorial jurisdiction (except Nunavut). Disclosure: I am member of the board of directors of the Opimian Society and former area representative.