It has been quite a popular question recently, whether organic wines are not just a healthier option as compared to their non-organic analogues, but also taste better.
Salmos Priorat Torres 2012You start with smelling this potentially amazing wine and it is fruity and smooth, nice but nothing to say that it is that amazing. A hint of doubt?
You take a first sip and it is indeed very mellow, black and red fruit, floral notes and round acidity (not sure if you can even say round about acidity, but it obviously tastes like it – it is refreshing, yet not at all sharp, but very smooth; this is coming from ripe red fruit, I started to think).
The unusual character of this wine as compared to other Priorat ones is its round vanilla like aftertaste. This is the roundness I was talking about – it is transforming these earthy and slightly mineral notes of typical Priorat to very smooth mouthfeel. Yet enough of this ‘typical’ or not, the main thing is it is very pleasant, yet it is lacking the kick I wanted. The reason you buy Priorat and, say, not Rioja, is this kicky powerful flavour explosion of red and black fruit (like this one), but so earthy and mineral that it makes your mouth linger and feel ‘abused’ in a very good way.
Ok, I think I have said more than needed, my point is that Torres did a great job, yet a very safe one. It doesn’t mean you should not try and hopefully enjoy it.
Macia Batle 2009 Reserva Privada, MallorcaThis wine is very nice with red berries with forest fruit, touches of vanilla and cloves; it is fruity and spicy and definitely will not disappoint in terms of the length, warmth and roundness.
Coma Vella Priorat 2009 (Catalunya, Spain)This wine is also fairly expensive at £22, sourced at Waitrose Cellar.
Classic strong Priorat, very juicy, abundant red berried (strawberrries) and black fruit together with sweet spice, with just touches of wood – this style is young and fresh even though it is 2009 vintage.
You will get the expected woodiness, round and smooth mouthfeel, yet they managed to preserve amazing concentration of black fruit flavours. The label is very confusing and very hard to read, yet it doesn’t need a swirl to taste the fruit of this wine – it is so pronounced. As alcohol is on the higher levels try to match it with your succulent and spicy main, to fully match the flavour/strength balance.
Hacienda Zorita Marques de la Concordia Tempranillo 2011
This red wine retails for £9.99 at Majestic Wine. DO Arribes del Duero is located at the heart of Douro valley (close proximity to Ribera del Duero).
To sum up, you can see now that these four wines display different flavour characteristics, some of them are more complex or concentrated, some of them are very typical to what you would expect; and some are not. Same will apply to organic wines. Some people will argue that organic wines will be more terroir-driven, that is when they will show the qualities of the soil, climate and viticultural manipulations more precisely; which is true, but also it doesn’t mean that the flavours are necessarily better. Organic skeptics will say that conventional wines taste better because of some additional treatments to further enhance flavours, yet as you can see, if you compare these four wines with their analogues in the Best Organic Wines, some organic ones are very concentrated and complex as well.
