The First Rule of Flavour Club

Flavour Club is, according to its twitter feed, all about lesser-known Spanish wines and gourmet, artisan food - what's not to like about that?

They sent me a sample of their October Wine Box to review:

Bracamonte 2012, Verdejo Rueda
Verdejo is Rueda's signature grape - unoaked, it is precise and aromatic, not dissimilar to a cool-climate Sauvignon Blanc.

This example, however, has spent some time in old oak which gives it more of an old-school substance - which I like.

Golden sandy yellow in the glass, with aromas of citrus and old oak; ripe melon and white pear fruit with a streak of linear acidity and a hint of salinity.

With aeration, the fresh, aromatic varietal characteristics become more prominent; pure, precise and elegant with good underpinnings, it is a versatile food wine; match with roast chicken or pork.

Good.

Yllera Tempranillo 2010
From the northerly Castilla y Leon region, this tempranillo is somewhat full-on - it has 14.5% alcohol and spends 12 months in new French and American oak.

Dark purple in the glass, there is lots of ripe dark fruits and spicy toasty oak on the nose.

The palate is soft and velvety with more smokey damson fruit, sweet vanilla muskiness and savouriness cut through with good acidity.

The tannins are fine, if slightly drying on the finish, and there is a slightly baked character to the fruit.

A good, crowd-pleasing effort with character; with plenty of alcohol, fruit and oak, it's not subtle - but it is fun. And if my old-world palate would prefer a touch more restraint, that's a minor quibble.

Red Pepper Compote
The red pepper compote that, along with some breadsticks, accompanied the wines is in character more like the red than the white: lovely, savoury roasted red peppers made into a sweet compote - is it a savoury jelly, or a sweet relish?

Match with a rustic pork terrine, crusty bread and cornichons.

Conclusion
Spain is pretty much on the zeitgeist now for good food and wine - I would happily sign up to Flavour Club for a couple of months to see what they can offer.

Other related articles
Gonzalez Byass Altozano Verdejo Sauvignon Blanc
Beronia Special Production Tempranillo

Links
Flavour Club - website, twitter