Drink Off I - Spanish Reds, 2000.

Five people.

Seven bottles.

No leftovers…….

Five headaches.

But hey, you’ve gotta make sacrifices. And that’s what Pitchfork Wine & Company did last week, at PW’s Drink Off I.

December’s Drink-Off was pretty simple. We chose seven Spanish red wines, all from the 2000 Vintage. We tried them blind, as well. All bottles were shoved into brown paper bags and held in place by rubber bands. Only the bottle shape could’ve been a giveaway.

Blind tasting is great for a few reasons:

1. It keeps you on your toes. You have to allow for objectivity. The most expensive wine may not always show the best, and as a wine lover, it’s a growing experience to actually feel the difference (or non-difference) in wines. You can’t know the story before it happens. Guess all you want. You will be wrong most of the time.

2. You are no longer in control. That’s right, you power-hungry twerp. You’ll actually have to think.

3. There is no right or wrong, and the only way to realize this is to be absolutely humble when your favorites of the night aren’t what they thought they would be. Grow some balls. Life ain’t that difficult.

So, with that taken into account, here are the results of Drink Off I.

2000 Spanish Reds

1st Place - Las Gravas – From the Eastern region of Jumilla, this is 50% Mourvedre, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10% Syrah. Notes ranged from “meaty and penetrating, licorice, waves of spice,” to “complex nose, spice, dark blackberry,” to “strawberry, methane nose, very thin but almost garlic-like.”

Jay and Justin both ranked this first, while Lauren ranked it third. Ah, yes. Even us wine-industry types agree to disagree. Which is what’s so damn beautiful about discovering wine. Expect to pay about $27-35 retail.

2nd Place – Marqués de Cáceres Rioja Reserva – From Rioja, Spain’s best-known region, this 85% Tempranillo, 15% Garnacha Tinta and Graciano impressed everyone. Notes: “peppers/marshmallows/blackberry,” “big fruit nose, tannic but yet thin,” “nice, spicy finish.” Non-wineguy Patrick says this “makes my tongue sandy.”

He also gives this 1,087 points.

So close to winning was the Caceres, but Jay gave the slight nudge at the last minute to Las Gravas. It was close. This was Lauren’s favorite. $20-25 retail.

3rd place – Mas de Bazan Crianza – Wow. This shocked us all. First all, the fucking bottle comes with what looks to be a ponytail holder, or a sweatband. This bottle was totally working out. Some say that the red stretchy fabric was supposed to stop the dripping; I feel that’s a ruse to allow for the ‘70s retro look.

Anyway, this one comes from somewhere between Madrid and Jumilla, in a little-known place called Utiel-Requena. This is a mish-mash of 4 grapes: Bobal, Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot. I had no idea what Bobal was 30 seconds before I wrote this.

Notes: “Barnyard, leather/shoe polish, light perfume,” “kinda punchy, new leather, pleasant cherry,” “alcohol, long, fruity finish.”

For $10-14, this was by far the best value.

4th place – Rotllan Torra Priorat - $18-24

5th place – Montecillo Rioja Reserva - $18-24

6th place – Valderiz Ribera del Duero - $20-27

7th place – Faustino de Crianza Rioja - $11-15

Now, none of these were bad wines. We all enjoyed each wine to some extent. But the Valderiz seems overpriced in retrospect. Justin liked it the most, but even he said the “finish was a bit lacking.” Now, this wine was tasted both 45 minutes after opening and 2 hours after opening, which is plenty of time for a 2000 to breathe and to really show any potential beauty on the nose. But it didn’t really happen.

Now that it’s over, we can look back and give thanks for Las Gravas being as awesomely elegant as it was, and Mas de Bazan being as cheap as it was.

But we have to thank the soundtrack for the night:

Sonic Youth - Washing Machine
Ivy - Apartment Life
PJ Harvey - Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
Curtis Mayfield - The Very Best of Curtis Mayfield
Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense
The Who - The Kids are Alright

Drink Off II will be after the holidays, when we tackle Rieslings.

Until then, one wine at a time, one album at a time. With love and inebriation...

Enjoy!

-Pitchfork Wine Staff