Historical tasting: cycle "Wine and Shorts"

Organized by our good friend Carlos Marañon “El perolas”, with the awesome help of Enrique Martínez, in the incomparable frame of the Restaurante El Baluarte of Pamplona. Past Friday 22nd of February, we´ve presented a vertical tasting of 6 red wines, the most representative of the history of our house. We had selected this wines after a previous tasting in the winery between more that 50 different wines.

Carlos Marañon “El perolas”

After a projection about Bodega del Jardín, we began with a Guelbenzu 1990, a red crianza 23 years old, which left everybody astonished, it was alive and rocking! With a good body on the mouth. We expected some of its smells and tertiary flavors, but it has everything where it should, and it was still giving pleasure. The vintage of of 90 was  what we call a southern-one and we qualify it of a very good vintage.

We continue with a Guelbenzu 1996, one logically more fullbodied, but that with 16 years on its back, a wine we would never ask for in a restaurant, or buy in a vinoteca. But that in this case, it was a wine kept in the winery, that showed an interesting color, with a logical evolution, and an intense smell and a powerful mouth, with a good after taste. The surprise was already on the faces of the lucky participants. The vintage of 96 was northern one, and we qualify it of very good.

We finish the first series with Guelbenzu 1998, of 14 years old, and tasting it was a pleasure to end with the three most representative first ones of the ” second wines” of the house, of the so called ¨crianza¨wines, which show perfectly to know-how, of the good wineries. The color, smell and flavor continued being surprising, very entire and in perfect harmony of acidity, tannin and alcohol. The vintage of 98, it was southern one, and we qualify it of excellent.

The first wine of the second series, it was the Guelbenzu EVO 1991, it was a red wine reserva of 21 years old, immediately we could taste as the traditional selection between the first ones and the second wines, it has a reason to be. The EVOs are a more armed red wines with everything, of color, smell and flavor, more intense, more structured on the mouth. The vintage of 91, it was southern one, and we qualify it of very good.

The second one of the series of reservas, it was Guelbenzu EVO 1995, a red wine that continues showing the age of 15 years old, and which we were not wrong of qualifying as southern vintage and an excellent one. It continues being a gentleman red wine, powerful, complex, and very well structured, a pleasure to taste it in the most strict sense of the word.

We finish the tasting with Guelbenzu EVO 2000, a red wine that was the favourite of many of the participants of the tasting. It is a red wine of 12 years old, which in spite of qualifying of southern vintage and a good one, it is resplendent, powerful, complex, with polished tannins, pure pleasure …

After we started having the food that Enrique Martínez prepared as a good surprise for us with a lot of flavor of Ribera of Navarra accompanied by the red wines 1PULSO and 2PULSO of Bodega del Jardin, from the vintage 2009, which will appear prompt on the market. We qualify this vintage of southern and excellent, and the participants, soon they noticed the great wines that they had on the table.

An unforgettable night of 70 participants, we all enjoyed and went out with the idea that Bodega del Jardin has a long path and a reality of high quality wines.

Menu of our Ribera

Pickled Pilgrim’s scallops

Season artichokes and fresh vegetables in salad

Sheet of borage al dente and Iberian morros

Pumpkin and Cardamom Cream

Calderete Corella style

Snails in fried vegetables

Creme brulée