Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2007 Imperial Gran Reserva Brut is a blend of 50% Xarello, 40% Macabeu and 10% Chardonnay from 25 to 30-year-old vines with four to five years aging on the lees. It has a lifted bouquet of dried honey, with notes of spice and wet wool emerging from its secondary aromas. The palate has a crisp entry with a touch of shellfish and lemon peel, striking acidity that lends tension and vivacity with a hint of brioche towards the finish. Impressive! Drink now-2017+.
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Wine Spectator
This has matured toward golden layers of stone fruits and citrus, a saturated essence of lemon curd and white roses. It’s a bittersweet confection whipped up by bubbles to pour with jamon iberico and Marcona almonds.
Representing the topmost expression of a Champagne house, a vintage Champagne is one made from the produce of a single, superior harvest year. Vintage Champagnes account for a mere 5% of total Champagne production and are produced about three times in a decade. Champagne is typically made as a blend of multiple years in order to preserve the house style; these will have non-vintage, or simply, NV on the label. The term, "vintage," as it applies to all wine, simply means a single harvest year.
Known for bold reds, crisp whites, easy-drinking rosés, distinctive sparkling, and fortified wines, Spain has embraced international varieties and wine styles while continuing to place primary emphasis on its own native grapes. Though the country’s climate is diverse, it is generally hot and dry. In the center of the country lies a vast, arid plateau known as the Meseta Central, characterized by extremely hot summers and frequent drought.
Rioja is Spain’s best-known region, where earthy, age-worthy Spanish reds are made from Tempranillo and Garnacha (Grenache). Rioja also produces rich, nutty whites from the local Viura grape.
Ribera del Duero is gaining ground for Spanish wines with its single varietal Tempranillo wines, recognized for their concentration of fruit and opulence. Priorat, a sub-region of Catalonia, specializes in bold, full-bodied Spanish red wine blends of Garnacha (Grenache), Cariñena (Carignan), and often Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. Catalonia is also home to Cava, a Spanish sparkling wine made in the traditional method but from indigenous varieties. In the cool, damp northwest Spanish wine region of Galicia, refreshing Spanish white Albariño and Verdejo dominate.
Sherry, Spain’s famous fortified wine, is produced in a wide range of styles from dry to lusciously sweet at the country’s southern tip in Jerez.